


cause baby you're a firework

by moonfleur



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged Up NCT Dream, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Boys In Love, Forehead Kisses, M/M, Past Huang Renjun/Wen Junhui, Pining, Slow Burn, Soft Lee Jeno, Strangers to Lovers, Swearing, a lot of kisses, just a bit though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23091187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfleur/pseuds/moonfleur
Summary: “Get the fuck out, Hyuck! I told you I don’t need this!”They hear Donghyuck sigh as he disappears past where they can see from their spot by the entrance.When Donghyuck re-emerges, hair a bit more ruffled than before and the neckline of his shirt completely askew.“Sorry about that,” he says, jerking his head back to where Jeno assumes an equally disgruntled Renjun is waiting. “He’s been a bit… uh… difficult. But he will see you now.”━━━━━━Or the one where Renjun is one of China's biggest celebrities, and Jeno is his new bodyguard.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 49
Kudos: 420
Collections: 99' ft 00' fic fest





	cause baby you're a firework

**Author's Note:**

> **PROMPT #FT240**
> 
> Hello! This is my fic submission for 99ft00. I just want to say thank you to the mods for organising this fest! It's been one heck of a ride.
> 
> To my prompter, I am so so sorry that this is probably not what you were looking for at all. The prompt really just got away from me, but I hope you like it just the same? :)
> 
> To my betas **[aeterna_nox](http://archiveofourown.org/users/aeterna_nox)** and **[naeuioneonenine](http://archiveofourown.org/users/naeuioneonenine)** , thank you so much for putting up with all my crying about how this fic was gonna eat me alive and for all the constant validation. I love you all ♡
> 
> This is the longest fic I have ever written, and while I am not 100% satisfied with it, I do hope that you enjoy reading it. Thank you for reading!

**SHANGHAI**

Jeno jolts awake, the sound of obnoxious high-pitched laughter echoing throughout the cavernous warehouse they’ve converted into a grungy bachelors pad-cum-headquarters of sorts. When the source of the sound is discovered — namely one Zhong Chenle, who must have found his way into some poor organisation’s database — Jeno groans, flopping his head back down onto the arm of the one worn-out leather couch the team collectively own. The legs underneath his own jerk upwards slightly and he opens an eye to level what he hopes passes for a dirty look at the owner.

“Jaemin…” He whines grumpily, promptly shutting his eye to avoid the all-too-wide smile of the boy perched snugly at the other end of the couch. “Let me sleep.”

“No,” Jaemin answers firmly, although Jeno can still hear the horrible Cheshire grin etched into his voice. He gives Jeno’s legs a few pats before unceremoniously shoving them off him and onto the floor with such force that Jeno nearly goes down with them. “Get up. It’s like five in the evening.”

“We’re literally not doing anything, Jaem,” he grumbles, dragging his legs back onto the couch as he curls into himself, a last-ditch attempt to keep himself safe from Jaemin who has moved to stand beside his head. The twinkle in his eye is at full force and Jeno already knows he’s not going to like what’s coming.

“We have to make dinner, Lee Jeno,” Jaemin replies in a tone that’s all too gentle for what he’s about to do — Jeno doesn’t give in anyway. 

“You mean _you_ have to make dinner,” Jeno snorts, bringing himself as close to the back of the couch as possible, turning away from Jaemin who he knows is eyeing him like a hawk eyes its prey. 

Jaemin sighs. “No, I mean _we_.” And suddenly Jaemin’s arms are hooked under him and he’s being dragged — read: carried — to the little corner of the warehouse they like to call the kitchen. 

Jeno yelps when he is dumped clumsily on the ground in the middle of the kitchen before Jaemin preoccupies himself with taking out the ingredients for whatever amazing thing he has cooked up in his head for tonight. You see, Jaemin is an amazing cook, easily their best while Jeno, well, Jeno once destroyed a pot while trying to boil water. That hasn’t stopped Jaemin from dragging him into the kitchen every time it’s his turn to cook as if he’s hoping Jeno obtains some semblance of skill through osmosis.

Jeno picks himself up, watching absently as Jaemin busies himself with getting set up — rice gets put in the cooker, eggs are set on the table and the biggest container of kimchi he’s ever seen is hauled out of the fridge and set precariously along the edge of the counter. Jeno didn’t even know they had kimchi. 

He’s just about to ask Jaemin about it when the front door slams open, the loud clang of metal on metal silencing everyone in the room, even Chenle. Jeno watches as a lean, wiry boy crosses the threshold, dressed in all black and looking thoroughly windswept. His left hand clutches what looks like an old-school manila folder, which he brings to his chest as he takes in the state of the room. 

“We’ve got a new job, guys,” he announces breaking the silence, and suddenly it’s like someone’s pressed play on a video and everything springs back to life. Chenle and Jisung dash out from behind the numerous screens they have set up in what they’ve come to know as the _Comms_ _Corner_ , the eagerness rolling off them in waves while Jeno exchanges a look with Jaemin who only sighs before placing the spatula he’s holding down on the counter. 

“Another one, Mark?” Jaemin asks as he makes his way toward the boy at the entrance, brows furrowing slightly. “We’ve barely had a week break between jobs these last couple of months.”

“Trust me, you’re not going to say no to this one,” Mark answers, brandishing the folder as enticingly as he can in front of Jaemin who plucks it from his hands with a resigned sigh. 

Jeno comes to a stop behind Jaemin, hooking his chin over his shoulder so that he can read the contents of the folder as well. Chenle and Jisung wander over from where they’d been hovering beside Mark so that they’re now hovering beside Jeno and Jaemin.

> Job Type: _Security_
> 
> The Charge: _Huang Renjun, Age 23, Chinese Pop Idol_
> 
> Background Information: _Renjun’s management company — Dream Entertainment — has received a number of death threats by someone known only as ‘daydreamer2303’ ever since the announcement of his Asia Tour. All the threatening messages received have hinted at a potential for violence but nothing else is known about the person who sent them. While it is not unusual for celebrities to receive death threats, Dream Entertainment would like to prioritise the safety of the artist as much as possible._
> 
> Objective: _Keep Renjun safe for the entirety of his tour (5 stops: Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul) by any means necessary without alerting him to the threat. Key Note: management has declined to inform him about it for the sake of his overall mental wellbeing and you will_ _NOT_ _, under any circumstances, reveal the real reason behind your employment. All he knows is that the company is willing to provide him with extra security on account of it being his first tour._
> 
> Payment: _5 million Yuan - to be paid in full at the end of the tour, under the condition that all objectives have been completed._

Attached to the job brief are a few photographs — most of them are scans of the horrific letters that have been sent to the company, including a particularly graphic one involving various torture methods that Jeno is sure should be more than enough grounds for a long jail term if they manage to catch the guy. That isn’t the one that catches his eye though, instead, it’s the photo at the very bottom of the pile — a young man dressed in a cream pullover that has to be at least two sizes too big for him, smiling through thin metal glasses as he waves at someone beyond the camera. A hint of recognition hits him as he picks up the photo for a closer look of the face that he’s seen plastered on the buses that have rushed past him numerous times on his morning runs or tacked on ad spaces in the subway stations. This can only mean one thing: he has to be Huang Renjun. Before he can think any further though, the photo is snatched out of his hand and stuffed back into the folder, before it is shoved resolutely into Mark’s face.

“No,” Jaemin’s voice is firm as Mark stutters backwards to avoid being smacked in the face. “We need a break, Mark, and I’m not giving that up to babysit some pretty boy who doesn’t know how to deal with a few haters.”

“C’mon Jaemin,” Mark’s voice is imploring as he tucks the folder back against his side. “We’re getting 5 mil for a _babysitting_ job, as you’ve so eloquently put it. That’s a million _each!_ ”

“I don’t care,” Jaemin sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I’m exhausted. We all are. Except maybe the kids.” He jerks his head towards Chenle who shrugs, which only serves to prove his point.

“What do you think, Jeno?” Mark asks softly, and Jeno has to struggle not to squirm under the sudden scrutiny of the four boys.

“Um… well,” he swallows looking between the four of them in panic, feeling very much put on the spot. It doesn’t help that Jaemin is the only one against the job because half of him feels like he should agree with Jaemin out of some obligation to an unwritten best friend’s code, while the other half, well, the other half is maybe thinking about the way the sun had hit Renjun so perfectly in that photo that he’d looked like some kind of cherub descending out of heaven. He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he shoves that particular image into the deepest recesses of his mind. He needs to be objective about this.

“I think we should take it,” he says finally, looking up to meet three pairs of very excited eyes and one scowl. “Just hear me out Jaem. We get one mil each to babysit a popstar for, what, two weeks? It’ll be the easiest job ever. And we could spend the next two _months_ lounging on a beach somewhere if that’s what you want, okay?”

He turns up the charm, does the best impersonation of a kicked puppy that he can do because he _knows_ Jaemin always caves to the kicked puppy. Finally, Jaemin nods despite the scowl he’s refused to drop.

“Fine. But you owe me the best holiday ever for not taking my side, Lee Jeno.”

He wraps his arms around the waist of a still very disgruntled Jaemin, chin returning to its perch on Jaemin’s shoulder. “It will be the best holiday we’ve ever had.” He promises.

* * *

**BEIJING**

The cold Beijing wind hits them the minute they walk through the double glass doors, icy chill stinging the few inches of face Jeno’s mask doesn’t cover. He squints against it, hand coming up to shield his eyes as he tries to look out for their ride. Rows of cars edge their way through the arrival bay, many of them large black vans like the one that’s been arranged to pick them up. He sighs, he’s blind without his glasses, can barely make out the license plate of the car two feet from him so he turns instead to the boy beside him who has spent the last few minutes muttering angrily under his breath. Jeno watches Jaemin fumble for a while, mop of blonde hair falling over into his eyes as he struggles with the multiple bags he has slung around himself, before reaching out to rearrange the bags the way Jaemin usually does — travel sling at the bottom, camera bag on top of that, followed by his unnecessarily bulky computer bag. Why Jaemin insists on bringing his computer when they know they’ll be provided with a full security setup is beyond Jeno but he’s long since given up trying to understand Jaemin.

“Can you see the van?” Jeno asks as readjusts the way the straps of Jaemin’s bags have tangled over his shoulder. “京LC - D2408.”

“There are so many fucking vans, Jeno,” Jaemin grumbles and Jeno can’t help the snort that escapes him at Jaemin’s disgruntled tone.

“Check the license plates, Jaem. You know I can’t see that far.” Jeno responds, tone placating as he steps away from Jaemin to admire his handiwork.

“I see it!” Comes a yell from behind him and he turns to see Jisung bounding up to them, Mark, Chenle and the rest of their baggage — carefully distributed over two trolleys — in tow. “I don’t know why you always insist on trying to find the ride when you never wear your glasses, hyung.”

“Hey!” Jeno says, smacking him on the arm in mock affront. “You know I get—”

“—antsy waiting for the baggage,” Jisung finishes with an eye roll that is so distinctly ‘Chenle’ that Jeno has to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. “I know. You should at least wear your glasses though.”

“I have my glasses,” Jeno pouts. “They’re just...somewhere in my backpack.” 

Jisung shakes his head, smiling, before gesturing behind Jeno. “It's the third one from where we are, by the way.”

“And the first two are just pulling out now, so we can probably just wait here,” Mark says, catching onto the tail end of their conversation as he comes up beside Jisung, trolley overflowing with three out of their five bags perched precariously on top of each other.

“They should have had someone inside to pick us up,” Jaemin grumbles as he completes their little circle, arms crossing over the multitude of straps that criss-cross over his chest.

“Ignore him,” Jeno laughs, giving Jaemin a pat on the shoulder that is immediately shrugged off. “He’s just grouchy because it’s eleven and he hasn’t had his fourth shot of coffee.”

“I’m _grouchy_ because I could have been on _holiday_ on a warm beach somewhere, instead of being stuck in this icebox of a city,” Jaemin huffs.

“Jaemin,” Mark warns, although he remains on the warm side of threatening, for which Jeno is glad because it really is too early for him to deal with Jaemin and Mark’s posturing. 

Jaemin sighs, running a hand through his hair so that it’s sticking up for the barest of seconds before the wind blows it back into place. “Fine, I’m sorry. I’m just wallowing. Give me another day and I’ll be fine.”

Jeno watches as Mark lets out a breath, the tension in his shoulders bleeding out of him along with the air. “Thanks, Jaem. It’s just two weeks and then I _promise_ I won’t accept another job for at least a month.”

“Make that two and I’ll do any job you get after, no complaints,” Jaemin answers, lips quirking up slightly in what Jeno knows to be the closest thing Jaemin has to a smile in his current state, and something in Jeno relaxes as well. He slings an arm around his best friend and tugs him toward the line of vehicles, the first of which is finally their van, license plates glaringly obvious now that they’re within reading distance.

“Now, that’s the Jaemin I know. C’mon, the quicker we get to the hotel the quicker we can get some caffeine in you and then maybe you’ll remember that Mark is supposed to be the designated old man, not you.”

A resounding _hey_ sounds from behind them and Jaemin finally smiles, which is quick to transform itself into laughter when Jeno responds with an _I love you, Hyung_ only to get flipped off in return. Jeno snorts but he can’t help the smile that forms when Jaemin nudges him playfully and pulls him towards the van.

The ride to the hotel itself is uneventful, Jeno spends the first few minutes taking in the smoggy skylines of Beijing, the pollution casting a strange grey light over the city. Low clouds cling to the tops of the skyscrapers that grace the horizon and a small part of Jeno wonders what the people up there see, lost in that strange world of white before the motion of the van finally lulls him into an almost reluctant sleep. 

Driving through Beijing traffic means that by the time they get to the hotel — a painfully luxurious one, Jeno notes — they barely have time to drop their baggage off and grab a quick bite from the cafe on the ground floor before they’re whisked off to a huge skyscraper in the middle of the city that Jeno can only assume is where they’ll be meeting the pop star. They’re unloaded in front of a set of giant glass revolving doors that lead into a lobby so large they could probably fit their warehouse in it and still have some room for their cars. Jeno looks up at the massive glass and steel behemoth that looms over them, the grey of its facade an almost perfect mirror of the sky above them, and he can’t help but wonder if there is anything in this city that _isn’t_ grey. 

They’re ushered into the lobby, coffees in hand, before being told to wait for and that _someone will be there shortly_. Chenle and Jisung immediately make a beeline for the circle of sofas that take up a corner of the far wall chatting animatedly, voices loud enough to echo off the glass walls that surround the entire lobby. Jeno shakes his head fondly, even as he wonders how they can be so energetic despite having slept for barely three hours. Mark and Jaemin are huddled up in the corner by the door talking quietly, and when Mark reaches up to give Jaemin’s shoulders a squeeze he knows they’re talking about what had happened earlier. For all that the two of them are constantly at odds with each other, he knows — and they know — that it comes from a place of similarity and it is this similarity that allows them to move past their fights with ease. Jaemin’s head dips, Mark smiles, and Jeno knows that they’ll be fine.

He is just about to make his way to them when a clear voice rings out across the foyer. 

“Mark Lee?”

Mark swivels around, eyes widening slightly as his gaze settles on the young man that had soundlessly appeared in the middle of the foyer. Decked out in a white shirt tucked into the sleek black trousers with the top button unbuttoned, the man cuts an imposing air as he crosses the lobby.

“That’s me,” Mark says, nodding his head in acknowledgement. He looks around at the rest of them, spread out around the lobby, and Jeno can practically hear the way he sighs inwardly. “And this is my team.”

Jeno and Jaemin make their way to Mark’s side just as the man reaches him, stopping short just in front of Mark. From this close, he looks a lot less intimidating physically being almost a head shorter than Jeno and Jaemin but the weight with which he carries himself only increases. Not to mention that he is also strikingly handsome, the juxtaposition of a white shirt on tan skin giving off the illusion that he’s glowing. If Jeno didn’t know better, he would have thought him one of the actors signed to the label. 

The man offers a hand to Mark, eyes glinting slightly as he introduces himself. “Donghyuck,” he says smoothly. “Renjun’s manager.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mark returns, grasping Donghyuck’s hand firmly.

“Likewise,” Donghyuck says, nodding slightly as he looks past Mark to where the rest of the team have gathered. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll introduce you all to him.”

Mark gestures for Donghyuck to lead the way and they follow him through the security barriers that lead to the lifts. The lift ride is uncomfortably silent — Mark and Donghyuck remain silent the entire way to the 37th floor, the only sound coming from Chenle and Jisung’s occasional movements as they do that thing where they talk without actually speaking. A bell chimes as they reach the floor and Donghyuck ushers them out of the lift and into what looks like a completely refurbished corporate office. What should have been an open concept office has been converted into a lounge area with corridors leading away from it to what Jeno assumes must be meeting rooms or recording studios. The palette of warm creams and beiges is a nice change from all the grey and Jeno immediately feels warmer for it.

Donghyuck leads them through the main lounge area and down a corridor before coming to a stop before a keypad-locked door somewhere halfway down it. He gestures for them to wait before giving the door two sharp raps. When there is no answer, Donghyuck sighs audibly before keying in the passcode and forcing the heavy sound-proof door open.

“Junnie?” He calls, taking a step into what could only be a studio of some sort. Everything is dark, Jeno notes when the door swings open, everything illuminated solely by the weird neon blue lights that line the edges of the room. Multiple monitors line the massive desk space that sits opposite the entrance, and Jeno can’t help but notice the cups of coffee and energy drinks that litter it’s surface. Mark hesitates at the threshold, not sure if he should be following Donghyuck in or not when another voice rings out, loud and so very clearly mad that Mark takes a step _back_ instead. 

“Get the _fuck_ out, Hyuck! I told you I don’t need this!”

They hear Donghyuck sigh as he disappears past where they can see from their spot by the entrance. There are some sounds of movement and a yelp followed by some angry whispers that Jeno can barely make out, and then a switch is flipped and light floods the room, the blue glow disappearing to the edges. Jeno exchanges a look with Jaemin who just rolls his eyes, mouthing a very blatant _I told you_ that Jeno can’t help swat him on the thigh for. Mark turns around and levels a warning glare when Chenle snickers behind them and is about to open his mouth when Donghyuck re-emerges, hair a bit more ruffled than before and the neckline of his shirt completely askew. 

“Sorry about that,” he says, jerking his head back to where Jeno assumes an equally disgruntled Renjun is waiting. “He’s been a bit… uh… difficult. But he will see you now.”

Jeno almost snorts, difficult seems like the understatement of the decade, but he contains himself. Mark leads them in, following the path Donghyuck cuts through the studio, which surprisingly is a lot cleaner than the desk would have suggested. A huge shelf lined with various awards and other accolades line the wall beside the door, interspersed with more personal photos — Jeno manages to spot a photo of Renjun at what must his own graduation, flanked by Donghyuck and another man who looks slightly familiar but that Jeno can’t place before he is ushered past it. 

The end of the studio is an alcove that holds a sofa bed built into the wall, along with a couple of other low armchairs plus a couple of desk chairs that have been pulled over so that they’d all have a seat. Renjun sits at one end of the sofa bed, arms crossed and a frown on his face as he watches them stream in after Donghyuck. His hair is lighter now, a shiny silver, and completely unstyled from the way it falls loosely around his face. It’s the first thing that Jeno notices when he finally allows himself to look at the pop star properly, and then he sees the glasses and something in Jeno short-circuits. He freezes, causing Jaemin to walk right into him, but not before he takes in the (extremely) oversized sweater Renjun is currently drowning in. He’s about to tell Jaemin to just go around him because he doesn’t think his legs are working anymore when Renjun levels him a look of such pure, unadulterated _loathing_ that Jeno immediately takes all of those thoughts back. _Okay, definitely NOT cute_ , he thinks as he shakes himself out of his thoughts, earning a strange look from Jaemin. 

They file in, taking seats where they can find them after Donghyuck strategically slips into the seat beside Renjun. He waits until everyone is seated before clearing his throat. 

“I’m sure you all know by now but, I’d like you to meet Renjun.” He digs an elbow into the side of the still-indignant boy beside him when he gets no response. Renjun directs a scowl towards Donghyuck, who remains completely unaffected, before schooling his expression as he turns towards the rest of them. 

“Hi,” he says cooly, giving them all frosted once overs. Jaemin’s fingers immediately tighten around the edge of the chair that he’s gripping and Jeno has to stifle the sigh that threatens to force its way out of him. “Nice to meet you all. As I’m sure you’ve already heard, I really don’t need you guys so, while I appreciate you flying all the way here for this, I’m sorry but you’ll have—”

“Renjun. Shut up,” Donghyuck interrupts, holding a hand up when Renjun tries to protest. Jeno can’t help but watch with veiled interest when Renjun gives in, albeit still glowering slightly, and Donghyuck gives his knee a reassuring squeeze. He turns to the rest of them before continuing. 

“I’m sorry, but he hasn’t really warmed up to the idea of having an extra security detail follow him around.”

“Violently opposed seems more like it,” Jaemin mumbles under his breath and Jeno has to suppress the urge to throttle him.

“The Director has, however, already signed off on this,” Donghyuck continuous, oblivious to Jaemin’s words. “And I know it may seem unlikely right now, but I _know_ Renjun will warm to you all eventually.” There’s another squeeze around Renjun’s thigh, a warning this time, and Renjun huffs defeatedly.

“Fine. But you let Sicheng-ge know that I will be speaking to him about this later.”

“I’m sure he knows already,” Donghyuck snorts, sinking more into the sofa now that it’s clear that Renjun won’t be putting up a fight.

“One more thing though,” Renjun adds, looking between them and Donghyuck. “I only want _one_ of them to be attached to me. I refuse to spend the next few weeks surrounded by five men, I need some space to breathe too.”

Donghyuck opens his mouth to speak but Mark interjects. “That’s fine. We’ll work it out and let you know. Our only condition is that the person attached to you is attached to you _at all times_ , which means we will need him to be rooming with you throughout the tour.”

Jeno’s eyes widen, and he exchanges a look with Jaemin who merely shrugs before turning his attention back to Mark. Mark making up plans without consulting them isn’t new, however, so they know better than to question him in front of a client. 

Renjun seems less than pleased by the idea, looking between Mark and Donghyuck as if expecting Donghyuck to come forward and argue on his behalf. When it becomes clear that Donghyuck isn’t going to say anything Renjun caves, arms crossed as he curls in on himself, brow creasing. 

“Alright, fine, since Hyuck has no objections. But don’t expect me to be happy with it. So to whoever it’s gonna be,” he pauses, gaze flitting over each of them before his lips start to curve into a smile that makes him look dangerous. Predatory. Jeno almost has to suppress a shiver. “Take this as a warning.”

“Right,” Mark says, thoroughly unimpressed, as he turns back to Donghyuck. “We’ll sign any non-disclosures you might need us to sign, so don’t worry about privacy or anything like that. We’ll do what you asked us to.”

“Great!” Donghyuck says, palms smacking loudly against his thighs as he pushes himself off the couch. He sticks his hand out once again to Mark, who takes it firmly. “We look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise.” 

Behind Donghyuck, Renjun snorts.

━━━━━━

The ride back to the hotel is silent but Jeno can feel the tension, the atmosphere between them waiting to snap, taut like a rubber band, and Jeno really isn’t looking forward to when it does. He trusts that Mark, at least, will be able to maintain some semblance of calm having led them for long enough, and under more tense situations than this one. Jaemin, on the other hand, is a live wire, a fuse waiting to be set off and the switch has already been flipped. He can practically feel the current running through Jaemin even though they’re seated a seat apart and he knows that the only thing he can do is pray that he can withstand the fallout.

They gather in Mark’s room, all of them seated in a circle on the twin beds that Mark had pushed together as they wait for Mark to gather his thoughts from wear he’s pacing himself into the ground.

“Okay,” he breathes finally, after what feels like hours but was probably only seconds. “I’ll let you guys speak first because I _know_ you all have things to say after that meeting. We’ll work our way out from there.” He looks at Jaemin and there is a warning in his eyes and in his tone when he continues. “Jaemin, you go first because you literally look like you’re about to explode.”

“And whose fault is that?” Jaemin snaps before he stops, eyes closing as he takes a deep breath. “Sorry. But you know I was against this job from the beginning and now, I’m even _more_ against this job. Why? Because we’re stuck babysitting a spoilt asshole of a celebrity who can’t even be grateful that we’re there to keep him safe. And what the fuck was that about one of us being with him at all times? Are you fucking serious?”

“To be fair,” Mark begins when it’s clear that Jaemin is done with the spiel. “The guy doesn’t know that he’s being targeted so he probably thinks the company is going overboard with this whole security detail thing.”

“That doesn’t excuse the fact that he was a complete ass to us,” Jaemin mutters, his anger starting to simmer down.

“You’re right, it doesn’t, and it’s probably not going to get any better over the next few weeks so we’ll just have to deal with it okay? Just imagine that he’s a stray cat that’s been trapped, it’s going to hiss at you until it realises that you’re there to help. We’ll just have to be patient. And, yes, I was being serious that one of us be on him at all times.” He levels a stern gaze at all of them. “Someone might be trying to hurt him and he is most vulnerable when he’s in his home or hotel room, we cannot leave him alone.”

“Fuck,” Jaemin hisses. “Well, it’s not going to be me.”

“Of course it won’t be you,” Chenle snorts, speaking for the first time that night. Some part of Jeno marvels at the fact that he’s remained silent the whole time. “If we put you with him, you’d probably end up killing him yourself and then we won’t get the money.”

Jeno bursts out laughing at that because, of course, Chenle is more worried about the money than Renjun’s wellbeing but even Jaemin is smiling a little, and Jeno is suddenly thankful for the younger ones’ abilities to diffuse tension.

“Okay, definitely not Jaemin then,” Mark says, laughing lightly. “I was actually thinking that maybe Jeno could be the one to do it.”

Jeno whirls toward him in shock. “Me? Why me? You always take point on our jobs.”

“Yeah, but right now you’ve been the calmest about this entire thing, aside from the kids, and we all know Chenle isn’t going to let us mess with his tech. You’re also the biggest out of all of us, so you’d probably look the most imposing. What do you think?”

“You’ve really thought this through, huh?” Jeno asks as he levels a pointed look at Mark, who only shrugs sheepishly. “What about Jisung? He’s taller than me.”

“You want Jisung to deal with Renjun’s wrath for the next two weeks?” Mark asks in mock affront, but Jeno knows Mark is right. Jisung, for all his size, is probably the softest of them all and while Jeno knows his training will hold out should they decide to put him with Renjun, he will probably suffer the most. Not to mention they’re all probably a bit protective of him.

“Fine, I’ll do it but you owe me lunch for a week,” Jeno says as he leans back on his hands, eyes glinting.

“Done,” Mark laughs. “I’ll be running ops with Chenle in the van they’re gonna send to us. Jaemin and Jisung, I’d like you on the ground as plainclothes security whenever Renjun is out but I want you both to keep an eye out for suspicious people, let Jeno handle the actual bodyguarding. Does anyone have any objections?”

Jeno thinks about how he’s going to be spending the next two weeks with an angry Renjun, tries not to think about Renjun in his glasses and oversized hoodie, thinks about the money and the holiday that awaits him at the end of this, and finally shakes his head.

“I’m good.”

The rest of the team echoes his affirmative, and Mark gives them the okay to go back to their rooms to rest up for the night. Jeno and Jaemin head back to their room in comfortable silences, both preoccupied with their own thoughts about everything that’s happened so far. It’s only when Jeno collapses, heavy on his side of the bed that he realises something, head snapping to Jaemin who is just settling himself under the covers.

“What?” Jaemin says without looking over.

“Who will you room with when I’m gone?” Jeno asks, rolling over so that he’s propped up on his elbows right beside Jaemin.

“Huh, didn’t think about that,” Jaemin answers, looking over at Jeno. “Looks like I’ll be with Mark for the next two weeks.”

“Oh my god,” Jeno whispers. “You guys are going to kill each other.”

“Shut up,” Jaemin says, smacking Jeno lightly, who only laughs. “We’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Jeno says, readjusting himself so that he’s under the covers. He throws an arm and a leg over Jaemin, who grunts at the weight but doesn’t protest. “I’d like my best friend back in one piece after this, please.”

“I should be saying that to you,” Jaemin murmurs, wrapping an arm around Jeno and pulling him closer. “Don’t let the angry cat scratch you.”

“Even if he does, it’ll just be a scratch. I’ll be fine,” Jeno hums, eyes falling shut as his exhaustion finally hits him. “Don’t miss me too much.”

Jaemin huffs a laugh and Jeno can feel it against his cheek from where he’s pillowed on Jaemin’s chest. “You know I won’t.” But Jeno can hear the smile in his voice, so he smiles too, and finally lets sleep take him.

━━━━━━

The next day is when everything kicks into gear — Jeno moves out of the hotel and into Renjun’s apartment, an obnoxiously large penthouse in one of the newer hi-rises in the city but it means that Jeno gets his own room so Jeno doesn’t complain. Their equipment also gets delivered from their contact in Beijing — state of the art truck outfitted with the latest gear Chenle could get his hands on along with weapons they wouldn’t have been able to bring onto the flight. Jeno is still there when the truck arrives, completely unassuming from the outside with it’s huge China Post insignia on the outside, and he gets to see Chenle squeal like a child on Christmas morning before his own ride arrives to ship him off to Renjun’s apartment.

With only two days till the first show, everyone is working on overdrive — Jeno knows the team is going through the venue, cleaning it out, doing sweeps, and attaching their own surveillance devices to the venue’s cameras. Jeno, on the other hand, has to outfit Renjun’s apartment with their security equipment, which leaves him feeling a lot more like a voyeur than anything else by the end of the day. Granted that Renjun’s apartment came with its own set of security features, including cameras and motion detection sensors, so all Jeno really needed to do was hook those up to their own network to give Chenle access. Even so, by the end of the day it’s safe to say that Jeno is exhausted, and still feeling very much like an intruder despite being granted his own key card and being told to _make himself at home_ by a very frazzled-looking Donghyuck. It didn’t help that Renjun had spent the entire day holed up in his room, only coming out to collect the takeout he’d ordered for lunch while ignoring Jeno’s presence the entire time. It had been tense and extremely uncomfortable, but at least Renjun hadn’t been angry and Jeno is putting that down as a win for him.

The same cannot be said for Renjun the next morning when he’s standing outside Jeno’s bedroom arm still raised from where he’d been pounding on the door. Jeno, still half asleep, takes a while to process the situation, frowning when he looks around at the unfamiliar location and then back down to the visibly irritated young man standing on the other side of the bedroom door armed with the largest mug of coffee Jeno has ever seen. It is only when Renjun moves, crossing his arms carefully and taking a step back out of Jeno’s space that everything comes crashing down on him — where he is, _who_ he is, who is in front of him.

“Oh my God!” Jeno yelps, taking a step behind the door in a poor attempt to hide the fact that he doesn’t have a shirt on. “What’s going on? Is something happening?”

Renjun gives him an unamused once over—and suddenly Jeno wants nothing better than to curl up into a ball and let the ground swallow him whole—before directing another glare at him. “I have my soundcheck and stage rehearsals today. We leave in an hour.” And with that he’s gone, disappearing back into the room across from Jeno with a slam of the door. 

Sighing, Jeno collapses against the door frame. _It's going to be a long two weeks_ , he thinks to himself as he eyes the door that Renjun disappeared behind. _A very long two weeks_. With a shove, he pushes himself off the doorframe and makes his way down the long hallway that leads to the open concept living area. He realises that he’s still not wearing a shirt halfway down but the only other occupant in this apartment has already seen him in this state so he pushes the thought aside.

He is hit with the smell of coffee and toast the minute he steps out into the living area and is mildly disoriented for a second until his gaze falls onto the plate of toast and mug of coffee that is waiting for him on the giant, black marble kitchen island that separates the living room from the kitchen. Confused he looks at the food and that back down the hallway where Renjun’s door is sealed shut, and then back at the food again. He is considering just making himself another cup of coffee just to be safe when he remembers that Renjun had been holding his own mug of coffee. He looks around the room as if half expecting a chef or butler to pop out from behind the curtains but, of course, nothing happens, which can only mean one thing — Renjun had made him breakfast. 

_No way_ , he thinks, _Renjun would never_. But Renjun is clearly the only person who lives in this house, so there really is no other explanation for it. He shakes his head and reaches for the mug, taking a gulp of the steaming liquid. He winces when he realises that it is just black coffee, without sugar, and starts looking around for anything that looks like it could be holding sugar. When it becomes clear that there is nothing nearby that could pass for a sugar holder he gives up and reaches for the mug again. Looking at the coffee he’s suddenly reminded of Jaemin — who really only drinks the most unholy amount of unsweetened black coffee — and a strange ache stirs in his chest. He misses his team. This is the first time he’s been separated from them during a job and it feels all kinds of weird, like the tingling you sometimes feel in your bones. Come to think of it, last night was the first time in a long time that he’s slept alone. He hadn’t realised, so exhausted had he been that he had passed out the minute he’d hit the bed, but he knows he will feel it tonight. Exhaling heavily, he grabs a piece of toast and makes his way back to his room. 

When they leave for the stadium, Jeno is the one waiting, having decided that he’d had enough of Renjun glaring daggers at him to last a lifetime. Renjun comes out of his room looking every bit the idol-off-duty that he is, clad in a loose-fitting white shirt and grey track pants that he throws a giant puffer jacket over. Jeno allows himself to watch for a while as Renjun slips a white cap on over his unstyled hair that Jeno has a strange urge to run his hands through before he heads over to where Renjun is pulling his shoes on. Jeno wants to ask about breakfast but they’ve just reached a point where Renjun isn’t openly frustrated with him and the last thing Jeno wants to do is break that. Instead, he waits until Renjun is done lacing up his shoes and holds the door for him on the way out. 

They get to the Beijing National Indoor Stadium and it is a madhouse, production staff are rushing up and down the backstage area yelling commands at the people on the other ends of their headsets while simultaneously manoeuvring between every other person currently in the corridor. Stylists with coat racks and luggage line the entrance to one of the dressing rooms and it is this dressing room that Renjun makes a beeline for the minute he gets out of the car. Jeno rushes after him, almost crashing into a lady in black carrying a box of microphones as he tries to follow Renjun’s flight path down the hall. Being as small as Renjun would definitely be an advantage in this situation Jeno can’t help but think as he watches Renjun easily sidestep a stagehand while also ducking under someone carrying mic stands. Jeno, on the other hand, has to wait for them to walk past before he can catch up to Renjun. He sees Jisung at some point, who shoots him a quick smile before returning to his task of wiring up one of the security cameras, he also bumps into Jaemin who is doing last-minute on-ground sweeps. Jaemin does nothing but laughs at his predicament and it takes all Jeno has to not trip him when he walks past. 

He makes it to the dressing room a good five minutes after Renjun, just in time to see Renjun lift his shirt so that a stylist can strap his mic band to his absolutely minuscule waist. Jeno flinches so hard he backs up into another stylist, tripping over the giant wardrobe on wheels they were wheeling in only to get yelled at in return. Renjun turns at the noise, dropping his shirt, and a part of Jeno almost wants to mourn the loss.

“Sorry, I… uh… wasn’t looking where I was going,” Jeno says as he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. 

Renjun snorts, returning his attention back to the mic pack he was setting up. “Just don’t break anything.”

Jeno stares at Renjun like he’s grown a second head, not really believing that he’d just heard Renjun speak to him in a tone that wasn’t laced with venom. He replays it in his head just to be sure, determined to sear that moment into his memory lest it never happens again. By the time he resurfaces from his own thoughts, Renjun is done getting set up and is already on his way back out the door. Cursing himself, and Renjun, he follows after the pop star making extra sure to stay close to him this time. Renjun, sharp as a knife, catches his stumble and frowns giving him a look that runs right through him.

“You know,” Renjun begins and, ah, _there_ is the telltale venom that Jeno is slowly getting used to. “For someone who’s supposed to be a bodyguard, you’re not very aware of your surroundings are you?”

Jeno flushes, and he knows he’s flushing because he can feel his ears start to heat up, but Renjun is turning away and heading off down the corridor before he can even open his mouth so he grits his teeth and follows. Renjun does have a point though, Jeno has been a bit distracted but he blames it on his self-preservation and the growing desire to not have Renjun always trying to rip his throat out. This is why, on their way to wherever Renjun's going, Jeno makes extra sure to check out everyone who walks by. Even though he knows that Chenle would have already done the necessary background checks on everyone involved in the tour, he knows from experience that one can never be too careful. So he watches, monitors the body language of everyone they pass, looking out for signs of hostility or agitation. They pass by a man delivering boxes who stares a bit too long at Renjun and Jeno immediately steps in between them but a warning glare is all the man needs to lower his gaze. Jeno watches him for a while, just to make sure, but the man leaves as soon as the last box is dropped off without so much as a backward glance. Nodding to himself, Jeno walks back to Renjun.

It turns out that Renjun was headed to the stage, which makes sense considering the mic packs now strapped securely to his waist, barely visible under his shirt. Jeno situates himself on the ground between the barrier that’s been erected around the standing pen and the stage, pacing back and forth along the length of the stage a couple of times before deciding on a particular spot of barrier somewhere near stage right. He does a quick scan of all the stagehands, memorising faces just in case, before allowing himself a quick glance of the arena. The first thing he notices is that it is _massive_ , the typical oval shape that most stadiums are with seats rising all along the sides, the furthest of which he can barely make out. It is even big enough for the massive extension stage that has been built for the show — a smaller hexagon in the middle of the arena with more extensions coming out from it to the side. Jeno takes it all in and he can’t help but marvel at the fact that the young man on stage had been able to sell out an arena this huge, that _thousands_ of people had paid to see him. He looks back at Renjun who is now speaking into the mic, voice echoing in the vast emptiness of the arena and can’t help but wonder whether he is worth it. Whether he actually has the skills to back up his popularity, or whether he’d rode his way to the top on his pretty face alone.

There is silence in the stadium for two minutes, the lights dim, leaving only the centre spotlight shining down on Renjun, like heaven’s light shining down on angel, the light reflected off his silver hair casting an almost-halo around his head. Renjun looks like a statue, unmoving under that light and all Jeno can think of is _beautiful_ , and then Renjun sings and Jeno’s mind _shatters_. If Jeno thought Renjun looked like an angel then his voice is the choir of heaven and Jeno, Jeno can’t breathe, he no longer knows how, and a part of him thinks that if this is how he’s supposed to go then he’d go gladly. The interlude of the song is what saves him, returns his senses back to him, and suddenly he can breathe again. He takes in lungfuls of air, hand gripping the railing of the barrier so tight he’ll probably bruise but he doesn’t take his eyes off Renjun who is gazing off into the darkness completely unbeknownst to the havoc he has wreaked on his poor bodyguard. Jeno is enraptured, watching in complete awe until the music dies and the lights fade and then he is left with nothing but puzzlement at how the devil he knew off-stage had transformed into something so beautiful. A part of him resents it, that someone who had done nothing but spat venom at him could also be so mesmerising. But a part of him is thankful because if Renjun was also a good person then Jeno would be done for and this job would have been over before it had even begun. So he pushes that image of Renjun out of his mind, reminds himself that Renjun has treated him and his team like nothing more than the dirt under his shoe for the past few days. 

Of course, all of that flies out of Jeno’s mind when Renjun starts dancing and Jeno wants nothing more than to take the gun strapped to his thigh, put it against his temple and fire. He watches as Renjun does spins across the stage, jumps and lands with such grace that Jeno _really_ regrets not siding with Jaemin against taking this job because Renjun is too pretty and Jeno might really be losing his mind. 

“Like what you’re seeing?” A low voice in his ear asks and he just groans, shoving at the person who must have come up beside him at some point during the song. 

“Fuck off, Jaemin. Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be doing your rounds or something?” 

“I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about with this guy,” Jaemin says, his grin glinting in the semi-darkness. “Hmm, can’t say I’m impressed yet but judging from the amount of drool collecting on the floor, I know you are.”

Jeno’s jaw snaps shut and he glares at Jaemin. “I am _not_. He’s just—I mean, he’s _talented._ ”

Jaemin snorts. “And I’m sure it’s his _talent_ and not his pretty face that’s the reason you’ve been staring slack-jawed at him for like the last half an hour.”

Jeno glances at Jaemin, down at his watch and then at the stage before returning his gaze to Jaemin with a sigh. “Has it really been that long?” Then he freezes, eyes narrowing as he looks at Jaemin. “Wait a second, so you _do_ think he’s pretty!”

Jaemin, for what it’s worth, graces him with nothing but a scoff and an eye roll. “I do have _eyes_ , Lee Jeno. I’m not blind. He’s the prettiest thing I’ve seen in a long time, and no you don’t count, but he’s also the most entitled asshole we’ve come across and we’ve done jobs for billionaires.” 

Jeno huffs, the perfect embodiment of petulance. “I know, I know. He’s just— He really is the prettiest thing we’ve seen in a long time.”

Jaemin laughs, hooking an arm around Jeno’s shoulders and tugging him closer both watching Renjun for a while until Jaemin leans in to speak again. “When this is done, and we’re finally on that holiday, we’ll find all the pretty boys you want, okay? But you have to focus on the job first.”

Jeno sighs, arms crossing as he watches Renjun do a dance move that should definitely not be allowed on stage. “Fine.”

  
  


━━━━━━

The day of the concert dawns a typical grey, like any other day in Beijing really, but the grounds of the stadium is anything _but_ grey. Throngs of teeming fans crowd around the main entrance of the stadium, some of them holding banners, others holding fans, some with both, and Jeno can’t help but wonder how they’re going to enjoy the concert if their hands are full. A bunch of fans shriek when their van drives past, giving chase not a moment later in the hopes that maybe Renjun will see them even though they can’t see him through the heavily tinted windows. Jeno watches Renjun, who’s sitting up front with Donghyuck, whisper something to him and then they’re slowing down just enough so that Renjun can lower the windows and wave back. The fans scream despite maintaining a safe distance from the still moving van, and Jeno can’t help but watch in wonder as Renjun smiles and waves, shouts little greetings to his fans who laugh and shout responses back at him. This Renjun, who treats his fans so different from how he’d treated Jeno just that morning, barging into his room already dressed and yelling at him to _get up or we’ll be late_. They were, in fact, not late so Jeno had chucked a pillow at him and told him to get out. Then again, he’d also woken up again to coffee and toast so now the only thing Jeno is sure of is how _confused_ he is about the irritable Chinese pop star. Renjun gives the fans one last wave before they drive off, Donghyuck picking up speed so that the fans can’t follow until they get to another entrance on the opposite side of the stadium.

The entrance leads into a foyer area, which Jeno recognises as the same area they’d rushed through to get backstage the day before. But instead of being filled with boxes of wires and equipment like it had been yesterday, today it is lined nicely with rows of congratulatory wreaths. Renjun stops when he walks in, clearly not expecting so many, and Donghyuck smiles as he pats him encouragingly on the back. Renjun walks slowly through the foyer, eyes darting as he tries to read the messages on all of them, and Jeno can see his smile even though he’s about two paces behind him. Then Renjun falters, halting visibly in front of a particular wreath, his fingers going immediately to clutch at Donghyuck’s sleeve who casts a worried look at Renjun when he sees the wreath. Renjun’s free hand clenches at his side and he storms off, Donghyuck in tow, through the double doors that lead from the foyer to backstage. Curious, Jeno also slows in front of the wreath on the way in and even he can’t help the frown that creases his brow when he reads the words printed on it — _Congratulations on your tour! Your love, Wen Junhui_. 

Jeno is still frowning when he catches up to Donghyuck and Renjun, the name _Wen Junhui_ ringing in his head like a song whose title remains barely on the edge of his mind, almost but not quite available. He knows that name though, he is sure of it, but he can’t remember _how_? He follows Renjun into the same dressing room from yesterday, eyes scanning the room to make sure there’s no one or nothing he doesn’t recognise present and is just about to collapse onto the sofa when Renjun whirls on him so suddenly he has to take a step back. There’s something different in Renjun’s eyes when he looks at him, something else alongside the usual anger but Jeno can’t put a finger on it.

“Get me some coffee,” he demands, voice tight and there’s something there on top of the anger as well. He shoves a card at Jeno. “There’s a Starbucks across the road. Get me anything as long as it’s sweet.”

Jeno looks at the card in his hand and then looks at Renjun, completely bewildered. “What the fuck? No.” He hands the card back to Renjun who just looks at it without taking it back. “I’m not your manager, Renjun. In fact, Donghyuck is literally right behind you.”

“And? I need him _here_. You go. And get something for yourself too if you want.” Renjun waves a hand dismissively as he turns back to Donghyuck but Jeno refuses to back down. He grabs Renjun mid-turn and spins him back so that he’s facing Jeno again.

“That’s not the point! _I_ need to be with you, to keep you safe. Getting you coffee is not in my job description.” Jeno’s half-yelling now, the last few days of being on the receiving end of Renjun’s mood swings finally catching up to him.

“Look, Jeno,” and Jeno stills because this is the first time that Renjun’s ever addressed him by name. Hell, he didn’t even know Renjun knew his name. “I _need_ to talk to Hyuck. Alone. Please.” Really, it’s the combination of Jeno’s name falling from Renjun’s lips and the _please_ that does it.

“Alright, fine,” Jeno says exasperatedly, looking at Donghyuck who only manages a weak smile. “Fine! Lock the door when I leave and let no one in until I get back. Got it?”

“Yes, yes,” Renjun says, shoving Jeno out the door. “Now, go.”

The door is slammed in his face but he hears the lock click so he takes what he can get, free hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. A part of him wants to know what all of that is about but another part is just pleased to have some time to himself for a while. He looks at the card in his hand then looks back at the door, and then he smiles, pulling out his phone as he makes his back out to the foyer.

“Hey, Mark. Do you guys want coffee?”

He ends up buying coffee for the entire team, using it as an excuse to give Renjun more time to talk to Donghyuck. He even stops by their surveillance van, which has been parked just opposite the main entrance to the stadium giving them a perfect view of the slowly thickening crowd as well as access to the stadium’s security system. Jeno’s eye flicker over all the screens that are currently showing a live feed of the backstage hallways when Chenle mentions that the dressing room door has remained closed, with no one entering or leaving. Jeno sighs in relief because he hates that he’s out here instead of inside doing his job. Someone, a member of the production crew judging from the outfit, walks through the foyer and suddenly Jeno stands, hands smacking at Chenle’s shoulder absently as he stares at the screen. 

“What?” Chenle asks around one of the lollipops he’s taken to eating during these long surveillance jobs. 

Jeno looks at him then, brow slightly furrowed. “Do you know a Wen Junhui?”

“What?” Chenle repeats, this time with an incredulous look on his face as he pulls his lollipop out with the grossest pop. “Do you mean the actor?”

“He’s an actor?” Jeno asks, the puzzle pieces still not quite fitting together. 

Mark huffs out a laugh from the other side of Chenle. “How can you not know who he is? He acted with Renjun in that one drama that made him famous. Shouldn’t you have done your research before we started the job.”

Jeno scowls at that, lobbing a stray lollipop wrapper at Mark’s head. “Shut up, I can't remember all their names. Besides, I only need to know their faces.”

“Well, you better remember his,” Chenle says, a shit-eating grin already carving its way into his face. “Apparently, their on-screen romance wasn’t just for the screen, if you get what I’m saying?” Chenle wiggles his eyebrows at Jeno when he looks back at him, and something strange settles in the pit of Jeno’s gut. He should have known, of course, that Renjun had a boyfriend but for some reason, he hadn’t and he’s not sure he likes the idea of that. 

“Shut up, Chenle,” Mark says digging an elbow into Chenle’s side. “ _Apparently_ , they’ve also broken up. Really Jeno, I would have expected you to know this. Renjun is our charge for this job and everyone around him is a potential suspect.”

Mark’s words leave Jeno speechless because it is true, Jeno should have known that and now that he does know, why is it that he wishes he didn’t? He leaves the surveillance van both enlightened and a lot more confused than he should be, but he puts all thoughts of Wen Junhui out of his mind when he re-enters the foyer. His focus should be on Renjun and his safety, Jeno is a professional, everything else can wait. 

Jeno _is_ a professional so he does what he needs to; he brings a much calmer Renjun his coffee, meets up with Jaemin and Jisung to go through their objectives — they’re both dressed as staff today having been tasked with patrolling the standing pens for unusual activity — and sticks to Renjun, eyes always on the people around him just in case. There hasn’t been a new death threat since the team agreed to the job but Jeno knows better than to take any chances.

The concert kicks off later that day and the stadium is absolutely _packed_ , Jeno enters the floor area and his jaw drops when he sees that almost every single seat and space has been filled by Renjun’s fans, by people who love him. He can’t imagine what it must feel like to have this many people know you and love you, and hate you, Jeno realises when he remembers the letters hidden somewhere in that huge company office. He takes a cursory glance at the people in the pen, watching for any sign of strange activity, but all he can see are people who are completely enamoured by the one young man standing on stage. He catches sight of Jaemin and Jisung wandering between the different pens and gives them a nod in acknowledgement.

Jeno allows himself to watch Renjun, just for a moment, and if he had thought Renjun stunning during rehearsal then he is nothing short of mesmerising now, fueled by the love and energy coming from the thousands of fans that fill the arena. Dressed in an all-black leather outfit that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, Jeno realises that he had been wrong before — Renjun is not an angel, no, definitely not, not when the lights hit him in such a way that he looks like he’s ascending from the fiery pits of hell, the stage lights mimicking flames as they lick at his side. At least _this_ Renjun, idol Renjun, looks a lot more like the persona Jeno is used to even though it makes him feel things he is definitely _not_ used to. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts, Jaemin wouldn’t let him live if he caught him slipping again, and turns back to continue his scan of the crowd but the image of Renjun, flushed and sweaty under stage lights, remains in his mind regardless.

“I have to admit,” Jaemin says later as he and Jeno watch the crowd slowly file out of the arena. “Renjun _is_ talented.”

“Oh, now you think he’s talented,” Jeno grumbles as he nudges them toward the doors that lead to the backstage corridor. “I thought you only thought he was a pretty face.”

“I still mostly think he’s a pretty face,” Jaemin says, grin flashing in that annoying way of his. “But he does have a nice voice.”

Jeno looks at Jaemin incredulously, steering them back towards where the dressing rooms are. “Wow, has one Huang Renjun succeeded in winning over Na Jaemin?”

“He fucking wishes,” Jaemin scoffs, rolling his eyes dramatically.

“Well, I thought he was really cool,” a smaller voice pipes up from Jeno’s left and Jeno can’t help but laugh at how the tips of his ears have turned red. Jeno hooks an arm around his neck and tugs him closer.

“You see, even Jisungie thought Renjun was cool. There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

Jaemin looks mildly offended at the thought. “Seriously Jisung? How could you go against your favourite hyung like that?”

“Who said you were my favourite hyung?” Jisung mumbles under his breath and Jeno snorts out a laugh. Jaemin, however, glares at Jisung behind Jeno.

“Care to speak up, Jisung? I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Sure. Do you have a mic?” Jisung retorts smiling and Jeno bursts out laughing so hard he has to hold onto Jisung’s shoulder for support. 

Jaemin only huffs gloomily as he tries to level a glare at Jisung. “I’m hurt, Sungie. And you’re definitely spending way too much time with Chenle.”

“Aww, hyung,” Jisung says, skirting around Jeno to link arms with Jaemin. “You know I still love you right?”

Jaemin snorts but Jeno doesn’t miss the fond expression in his eyes and he smiles to himself. Jisung really is the younger brother Jaemin never had and he knows, no matter what Jisung says to annoy him, Jaemin will always give in to him in the end. 

Jaemin and Jisung leave him at the door to Renjun’s dressing room to do one last sweep of the area for stragglers. Jeno watches them go, knowing it’s going to be a long night of packing and cleaning up that they’ll have to do and half of him wishes that he could go with them, but that’s not what he’s been assigned to do. Instead, he opens the door and steps into the dressing room and into a situation so tense he doesn’t realise he’s reaching for his weapon until his hand closes around it. 

In the middle of the dressing room stands a tall man, face hidden by a cap and a mask who would have looked extremely imposing if he wasn’t dressed in a plain button-down and trousers. He does have Renjun and Donghyuck almost backed up against the far wall though so Jeno recalculates, reaches for his dagger instead and steps in between the man and Renjun. 

“Who are you?” Jeno asks, gaze fierce as his hand tightens around the hilt of his dagger but doesn’t draw it. 

The man’s eyes widen in surprise, clearly not expecting to be interrupted, before he looks at Renjun again, a smile visible even behind the mask. “I didn’t know you had a bodyguard, Xiao Huang.”

Jeno’s eyes narrow at the nickname, too intimate to be coming from a stranger. He unsheathes the dagger and points it at the man. “I said, who are you?”

The man looks at the dagger with disinterest. “And you clearly haven’t told him about me.” He tuts. “I’m disappointed.”

Jeno is annoyed, this man has ignored him twice now and Jeno is this close to giving him a little warning tap with his dagger. He even moves to take a step forward but a hand curls around his arm, keeping him back.

“It’s okay, Jeno.” Renjun’s voice is uncharacteristically soft and Jeno turns to look at him, confused, only to find him flushed up to the tips of his ears. “He’s a- he’s a friend.”

Finally, the man pulls the mask down to reveal a strikingly handsome face, all sharp lines and edges. He extends a hand in greeting. “Wen Junhui.”

Jeno stiffens, and if the grip on Junhui’s hand tightens he doesn’t mention it. “Lee Jeno.”

“Great!” Junhui says releasing Jeno’s hand. “Now that you know I’m not a threat, you can put that knife away. I’m just here to congratulate Renjun on a great show.”

Jeno glares at him, unmoving until he feels the hand around his arm squeeze gently — a warning. He looks back at Renjun, who nods, considerably more pink than red now, before he sheaths his dagger. He gives Junhui the dirtiest look he can muster, professionalism be damned, before stepping away from them to seat himself on one of the many couches that line the walls of the dressing room. To his credit, Donghyuck also gives Junhui a dirty look before leaving them to join Jeno on the couch. Jeno looks at him questioningly, gaze shifting to the pair and back, but Donghyuck just shakes his head and proceeds to glare at Wen Junhui’s back. 

Jeno watches as Junhui pulls out a small velvet box and hands it to Renjun, who frowns at him and Jeno catches the words _congratulations_ and _beautiful_ being uttered followed by Renjun looking away, the tips of his ears flushing once more. Jeno bristles in his seat as Renjun shyly accepts the box and leans in to wrap his arms around Junhui. Beside him, Donghyuck scoffs and gets up from the couch. _Tell me when they’re done_ , he mouths with an eye roll that will put Jaemin’s to shame, before storming out of the dressing room. Jeno groans inwardly, wishing that he could leave too but there is no way in hell that he’d leave Renjun alone with Junhui. 

Jeno wants to gag when Junhui bends down to whisper something in a Renjun’s ear, his smirk visible from where Jeno is seated but Renjun stiffens and Jeno can see his fingers curl tighter around Junhui’s shirt. Jeno is immediately on alert again but Renjun pulls away, and his eyes are wide as he glances between Junhui and Jeno, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth and all Jeno can think of is _fuck no_. 

That is what he says when Renjun walks up to him, considerably less red but no less flustered, and tells him to sleep at the hotel tonight. 

“I’m your bodyguard, not your roommate! What if something happens while I’m gone?” Jeno doesn’t realise he’s standing until he’s looking down at Renjun. 

“ _Nothing_ is going to happen! Why the fuck is everyone so paranoid?!” Renjun snaps back and Jeno just wants to shake him and tell him about everything, but he bites his tongue. 

All he says instead is, “it’s my _job_ , Renjun. I’m not supposed to leave your side! If something happens, that’s on me.”

“Well tell Donghyuck I’m absolving you of all responsibility if anything does happen, which it _won’t_.”

Jeno groans, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “That’s not the _point!_ ”

“You’re always welcome to join us if that’s the case,” Junhui interjects, his lips curving upwards into a sly smile as gives Jeno the most obvious once over he’s ever experienced. “I’m sure Xiao Huang wouldn’t mind you staying by his side _all night long_.”

“I- what?!” Jeno yelps looking at Renjun whose expression mirrors his. Renjun locks eyes with him then and they both look away almost immediately. Jeno knows he’s probably gone a bright red and wants nothing more than to just pretend this whole thing never happened so he caves for the second time that day.

“You know what, I’m gonna forget you even said that.” He turns to Renjun who looks as uncomfortable as he feels. “I’ll stay at the hotel only as long as you let me take you back so that I can make sure you and the apartment are safe.”

“Deal,” Renjun says through gritted teeth.

“Awesome!” Junhui exclaims. “You can take us both back then because I really don’t want to take a cab again.”

Jeno groans.

━━━━━━

They’re barely ten minutes out from the stadium and Jeno is already beginning to regret his decision. He’d never completely regret it, of course, because the alternative is something that he’d really rather not think about at this time. But he starts to because the atmosphere in the car is so tense that Jeno almost wants to roll down a window in the hopes that it will help. Maybe he should, maybe it will cool the two men in the backseat down long enough for Jeno to dump Renjun on his doorstep and call it a night. He knows it won’t though, not when it looks like the only thing keeping them apart is the fact that they’re strapped into individual seats, and Jeno silently thanks Donghyuck for picking a van like this one. 

At the thought of Renjun’s manager though, Jeno can’t help but frown. He had left the dressing room to look for him earlier but had been told by a very disinterested stylist that the last time she’d seen Donghyuck, he’d been on his phone getting into a cab. That had left Jeno even more confused but there was no way he could leave Renjun long enough to go look for him so he’d had to ask Mark to relay the situation to Donghyuck instead, which had been the smartest choice because Junhui looked about ready to eat Renjun when Jeno had returned. Jeno doesn’t think he’s ever wanted to hit someone so much in his life. 

Thankfully, they make it back to Renjun’s apartment without anyone getting jumped in the backseat and Jeno almost cries with relief when he sees the entrance to the now-familiar skyscraper. He leaves the van parked outside on the sidewalk and ushers them inside, ignoring the way both of them are pointedly refusing to look at each other and it is so mind-numbingly _awkward_ that all Jeno wants to do is shove them into Renjun’s room and lock the door. What he does do, however, is the fastest sweep of his life after asking the two of them to remain in the entranceway so that he can check that the house is secure. He comes back to Junhui pressing Renjun against the wall and decides then and there that if he ever sees Junhui again he’s going to introduce the man, very intimately, to his very special collection of Japanese knives. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they’re both too far gone to notice Jeno so he manages to slip out of the apartment without having to deal with another awkward encounter. 

What happens when he leaves the apartment, however, is another matter entirely. His mind doesn’t stop replaying the image of Renjun being crowded up against the wall and he doesn’t know if he wants to go back up to kick Junhui out of the apartment or to throw himself off the building. He groans, his head thudding against the wall of the elevator as those thoughts swirl around inside his head, threatening to take over what little sense he has left. In the end, he decides that he’s stopping by the nearest convenience store and buying a bottling of bleach so that he can bleach his eyes, and then he’s stopping by the nearest bar so that he can bleach his mind. 

Bleach his mind he does, alongside a particularly bemused Jaemin who pours him a shot every time he mentions his knives. Jisung and Chenle stay just long enough for food and a few shots before Chenle is dragging Jisung away so that they can go play at some arcade Chenle had spotted along the way. Mark hadn’t even shown up, the message in their group chat left unread by him only, and Jeno would have been more concerned about it if he hadn’t already been so preoccupied with _perfect celebrities hooking up with each other_. 

“Was it at least hot?” Jaemin asks eyebrows doing their signature wiggle as he smiles behind his glass. They’d managed to find a hidden Korean bar just a couple of blocks down from their hotel that was actually run by Koreans, which Jeno was pleasantly surprised to find. 

“What?!” Jeno splutters, half choking on the shot of soju he was just about to down. “How am I supposed to know?”

Jaemin shoots him a disbelieving look. “Two of China’s biggest celebrities were sucking face less than six feet from you and you’re saying you didn’t look? Bullshit.”

“Of course I didn’t!” Jeno hisses. “Why the fuck would I?”

“I don’t know. You tell me, Lee Jeno. I would have thought you’d want to see Pretty Boy all hot and bothered. Or,” Jaemin pauses, lip curling, and Jeno is seriously considering chucking his shot of soju in his best friend’s face. “Did you not _want_ to see? Oh my God, Jeno. Were you _jealous_?!”

Now, as Jeno feels his face start to burn he has never been surer that he wants to throw his shot in Jaemin’s face. “I was not!” 

“Holy shit, I was just kidding but you- You really are jealous aren’t you?” Jaemin whispers, all of his earlier cockiness disappearing. 

“No.” _Yes_. “Maybe…” _You fucking idiot_. 

“Oh Jen,” Jaemin breathes, scooting closer to him so that he can wrap his arms around Jeno comfortably. He tugs Jeno closer and Jeno follows until he has his head on Jaemin’s shoulder. “Are you starting to like the mean little kitty?”

“You know I like kitties,” Jeno sniffs, nuzzling into Jaemin’s neck and Jaemin laughs. “And I don’t think he’s that mean.”

Jaemin hums. “Why?” 

“I think… I think he’s been making me breakfast.”

Jaemin erupts into laughter, slapping the table so hard their chopsticks rattle. “Oh Lee Jeno, you’re such a sucker for anyone who makes you food.”

“Shut up,” Jeno pouts, thankful that Jaemin can’t see his expression. Then Jaemin sighs and pushes him off his shoulder so that he can look at Jeno properly. 

“Breakfast or not, Jen, he still treats you like shit. I mean, he didn’t even have the decency to wait till you were out of the apartment even after forcing you out!”

“I know, Jaems. I know. But maybe,” Jeno takes a deep breath. “Maybe, he’s not as bad as we think he is.”

“That could still be pretty bad though,” Jaemin answers and Jeno sighs.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t even be getting involved. He’s just a job, nothing more.”

“Exactly. And no matter how cute of a job he is, that’s all he should be.”

“You’re not helping, Jaemin,” Jeno says scowling as he reaches for the bottle to pour himself another shot only for it to be taken away by an unamused Jaemin.

“No, you’re done now, enough of that,” Jaemin says, taking the shot glass out of his hand too. “Now, how about we go back to the hotel, get some ice cream, and binge-watch that drama you’ve been bugging me to watch?”

Jeno lights up immediately at the thought of Netflix and ice cream but then he frowns. “Wait, aren’t you sharing a room with Mark? Won’t he be annoyed?”

“Oh! Mark asked if he could keep his own room so I have the room to myself too!” Jaemin beams.

“Wow, when you said you weren’t gonna miss me I didn’t think you actually meant it,” Jeno play scowls.

“Shut up, you know I do,” Jaemin says smacking him lightly before tugging on his arm until he stands up. “Now, _let’s go!_ I wanna see how many episodes we can watch before we pass out.”

Jeno snorts but he’s smiling as he lets Jaemin lead the way out. 

* * *

**TAIPEI**

The team leaves for Taipei the following night after Jeno and Renjun spend an entire day pretending the other doesn’t exist while simultaneously co-existing in the same space. Part of Jeno had really wanted to stay out of the apartment as much as possible but Donghyuck had received the all-clear in the early hours of the morning and Jeno knew Mark would be on his case if he had left Renjun alone. So he’d gone back to the apartment, cursing Wen Junhui’s lack of manners for not staying the night as he dragged his sleep-laden body through Renjun’s front door at ass o'clock in the morning. He’d frozen upon entering the apartment, however, when his gaze had fallen on the usual mug of coffee and plate of toast on the counter, and then he’d reallywanted to hit Junhui because how dare he walk out on someone willing to make him breakfast the morning after. In the end, all he’d done was scowl at the plate for all of two seconds before deciding that he’d be better off back in bed and had proceeded to storm into his bedroom to pass out for the next eight hours.

Of course, Jeno and Renjun don’t speak to each other after that either, both of them having wordlessly followed a very confused Donghyuck when he’d arrived at the apartment to pick them both up. The plane ride is even worse, Donghyuck takes one for the team and seats himself between Renjun and Jeno but all of that fails when Donghyuck gets up, completely exasperated and tells them to _do something about this fucking tension or else_ , before storming off towards the end of the plane where Jeno assumes the rest of the team are seated. He’d barely seen them the whole night having needed to stick with Renjun who, of course, gets to enter through VIP channels. Jeno isn’t complaining though, because VIP meant no queues or crowds, which Jeno was incessantly grateful for.

Jeno and Renjun continue to ignore each other all the way to the hotel and the ride would have been incredibly awkward if Jeno hadn’t dragged Jaemin into their van so that he’d at least have someone to talk to. Not that they speak much either way but having Jaemin around is always a comfort, and Jeno finds himself relaxing when Jaemin slides into the seat beside him with a reassuring smile. It takes them almost an hour to get from the airport to the hotel but, for once, Jeno is grateful for the silence. He spends the entire ride watching the Taipei skyline draw closer, occasionally smacking at Jaemin to point out an attraction that they’ll probably never have the chance to see — not on this trip anyway and he thinks he understands now why Jaemin was so adamant on them going on a holiday. They’ve been all over the world, visited so many places because of their job, but they’ve never had the chance to really explore and enjoy them, not when most of their jobs needed quick ins and outs most of the time. Once this is over, Jeno promises himself, he’ll come back to all the cities he’s been to and explore them all.

By the time they get to the hotel, it is almost one in the morning and everyone is half dragging their feet as they lug their heavy bags (and bodies) into another overly luxurious hotel. Neither of them have the energy to think about it though, Chenle being the only one with enough energy to talk Jisung’s ear off while they wait for Mark and Donghyuck to get their rooms settled. Jeno allows himself to space out a little as he gazes around the lobby, the minimalist wood and stone architecture reminding him a little bit of Renjun’s apartment before his gaze drifts almost naturally to the star in question. It is only then that he realises how absolutely _tired_ Renjun looks, the shadows under his eyes so stark that Jeno is almost surprised he hadn’t noticed it before. Almost, because he _had_ been very intentional about not looking at Renjun. Now, he allows himself to look, frowning as he takes in how Renjun’s eyes seem swollen and how he’s spent almost the entire time almost curled in on himself. He’s just about to go up to Renjun when Donghyuck comes back, he wordlessly hands Jeno their room cards before heading straight for Renjun. Jeno watches as Donghyuck loops an arm his shoulders, giving them an encouraging rub, before steering him towards the lift lobby. He catches Jaemin’s eye, who raises a questioning eyebrow when he looks back at the team but Jeno is as clueless as him and can do nothing but shrug as he follows them to the lobby.

The hotel room Donghyuck deposits Renjun in is comfortably large; two twin beds separated by a bedside table take up most of the room but there is still space for a desk that takes up one of the far corners, and a sofa that takes up the other. Donghyuck leaves them but not before grabbing Jeno and mouthing a hurried look _after him, please_. Jeno sighs inwardly, following slowly after Renjun who immediately aims for the bed furthest from the door and deposits himself unceremoniously on it, back still facing Jeno. Gritting his teeth against the awkward atmosphere, Jeno leaves his luggage by his bed before walking around so that he’s standing in front of Renjun, who looks up at him frowning, hair hanging limply over his face in a way that makes Jeno itch to brush it aside. From this close, Jeno can see how bad the bruising under Renjun’s eyes are and he something in his chest squeezes, and suddenly he wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around Renjun and hold him until he’s okay. He doesn’t, of course, pushing the thought away as soon as it had materialised in his mind. What he does do is lay a hand on Renjun’s shoulder, careful in case Renjun decides it is all too much for him, but Renjun doesn’t do anything except look at Jeno. And Jeno never thought he’d ever wish for an angry Renjun but he does now because he’d rather have Renjun at his throat than looking this _empty_.

“Renjun,” Jeno whispers, squeezing his shoulder lightly. “Are you okay?”

The sound of Jeno’s voice seems to snap Renjun out of his daze somewhat, life returning to his eyes slightly as he finally _sees_ Jeno. He stiffens when he realises Jeno’s hand is on him and Jeno is quick to retract it, afraid that he’d overstepped some fragile boundary. 

“I'm fine,” Renjun answers, looking away from Jeno, and Jeno knows that that is all he’ll be getting out of Renjun tonight so he nods, mutters a quick _just checking_ before returning to his own bed so that he can unpack. He gives Renjun as much privacy as he can, facing towards his own bed as often as possible while he unpacks until Renjun leaves to wash up. Jeno finally relaxes when he hears the click of the lock, allowing himself to unpack more freely now that he doesn’t have to worry about Renjun feeling uncomfortable. Thinking about Renjun, he can’t help the frown that begins to develop on his face — he’d been okay yesterday after the concert, at least until Junhui had shown up. Half of him is angry, solely because of Junhui’s involvement, but his more rational side tells him that he can’t know what actually happened and it wouldn’t _really_ be fair even if all signs point to him. 

He’s so deep in thought that he doesn’t realise Renjun is out of the shower until he speaks, startling so hard he reaches instinctively for a weapon that isn’t there. Renjun looks at him with a mixture of exasperation and something else Jeno can’t place, which makes him flush with embarrassment. 

“You can use the bathroom now,” Renjun repeats and Jeno’s brain promptly short-circuits because Renjun is in the cutest, fluffiest, set of pyjamas he’s ever seen, made even cuter by the fact that it is _Renjun_ wearing them. Jeno knows that he is staring and that he really should say something back but his brain cells must have shattered, because all he can think of is Renjun and cute, and he knows that if he speaks those are the only words that will come out of his mouth. 

Renjun clears his throat, crossing his arms over himself, light pink blossoming on his cheeks and suddenly Jeno’s brain rewires, all too aware of what he’d just done. 

“Fuck, sorry,” Jeno mutters scrambling out of his bed. “I- Sorry. I was just- uh, lost in thought. I’ll uh, go shower now. Yeah. Cute PJs by the way.” _Fuck_.

Renjun freezes, eyes wide and the blush already dusting his cheeks deepening when he catches Jeno’s last words. Jeno, on the other hand, makes the maddest dash for the bathroom, collapsing against the door as soon as it clicks shut. He decides then and there that he’s going to drown himself in the bathtub because he’d rather not be alive the next time he faces Renjun. 

He allows himself to stew in his own self-pity for a while, cursing the fact that he’d forgotten his phone in his mad rush to be away from Renjun so now he can’t even text Jaemin to cry about it. He only moves again when he hears the lights click off and he is sure that Renjun has gone to bed. 

━━━━━━

The following day’s rehearsal starts so early that Jeno’s barely awake enough to think about the events of the previous night. Renjun had also woken up before him, which meant that by the time Jeno was awake enough to function Renjun had already changed out of his pyjamas and was, once again, in his oversized t-shirt and sweats. 

Donghyuck comes in some time while Jeno is brushing his teeth, trailed by a very grumpy-looking Mark, both of whom look as awake as Jeno feels. Donghyuck deposits a paper bag on Renjun’s bed and tells him to try and get some food down him while Mark just leaves what must be Jeno’s breakfast on the bathroom counter and leaves without another word. Jeno hears Donghyuck talking to Renjun for a moment before he too leaves. Grabbing the paper bag, that smells like freshly baked pastry, Jeno trudges out of the bathroom. Renjun is already seated on loveseats by the window and Jeno is about to take his breakfast back to his bed but, for some reason, decides against it. Instead, he brings his little bag of baked goods over to where Renjun is sitting.

“May I?” He asks quietly, gesturing to the space opposite Renjun. Renjun nods wordlessly as he nibbles on his own bun, and if he seems surprised at all by Jeno joining him, he doesn’t show it.

Jeno takes the seat opposite and they finish their breakfast in strangely comfortable silence, neither of them feeling the need to make conversation with each other. Jeno spends most of the time staring out over the city, watching as it slowly comes alive in the form of cars and people slowly filling up the streets, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t spend a great deal of it just studying Renjun. He doesn’t know if it is something to do with it being that time of the day where everything seems liminal but there is an atmosphere of calm about them that allows him to just watch. He doesn’t know if Renjun is unaware, or if he’s aware of the attention but doesn’t mind, but neither of them says anything — Renjun’s attention divided between picking at his bun and watching the world outside, Jeno’s attention mainly on Renjun. 

He watches the way Renjun slowly picks apart his bun, slim fingers gentle as he tries not to get any crumbs on himself or the seat. He scowls when he does drop a piece on the seat and Jeno has to hide his smile behind his own pastry. The cold, early morning light streaming in through the window casts a strange blue glow on Renjun, makes his hair seem extra soft and some part of Jeno aches to know the way it feels running through his fingers. His features seem softer too, maybe because he’s not angry or stressed like how he usually is when he’s around Jeno, but he seems younger, less tired. The shadows under his eyes are still there but a lot less prominent, and Jeno is relieved. Something must tickle Renjun’s nose because he sneezes and Jeno’s heart does a little somersault at the tiny sound he makes, and the way his nose scrunches when he tries to stop himself from sneezing again. He likes Renjun like this, he thinks, not angry and not sad, not a celebrity, just Renjun and he silently thanks all the powers that he gets to see this because he’s sure not many people do. They sit like that for a while before Renjun, still looking out the window, says, “We should go,” and what else can Jeno do but follow.

The rehearsal goes much the same way the one in Beijing had gone, Jeno stays with Renjun while he does his sound checks and stage tests, Donghyuck appearing every now and then to pass them coffee or to go over other things with Renjun. He sees Jaemin and Jisung doing their own set up as well, walking up and down the hallways backstage as they help Chenle connect to the arena’s security system. They’re too busy to talk, having one less day than they did in Beijing to complete all the setup, but they say hi to Jeno when they see him. After the first round of stage checks, Donghyuck takes Renjun aside into an unused dressing room and asks Jeno to give them some privacy again and while the last thing Jeno wants is to leave Renjun unguarded, he knows the only person who can help him with whatever is bothering him, is Donghyuck. So he lets them take the dressing room, reminding them to lock the door when he leaves and to call him when they’re done.

With nothing much to do this time, Jeno decides to wander the grounds of the arena. He realises it’s been ages since the last time he’s been outside to just walk without getting into or out of vehicles. The cold winter air stings his skin just a little but he’s grateful that it’s at least a lot warmer than it had been back in Beijing. Somewhere along the way he sees the van they have for this stop, this one disguised as a DHL van of some sort, and he smiles when he sees Chenle and Mark coming out of the van, Mark shoving Chenle as he laughs at something. 

He turns the corner and suddenly there are people everywhere. It’s not packed but the grounds are littered with pockets of people, a lot of whom are just sitting around in their groups, some with takeaway food and drink, others with fan-made merchandise all laid out. The venue’s security personnel are patrolling the area, making sure none of the fans try to wander inside. Jeno nods to them when he walks past but only they know who he is, to the rest of the people he looks like he could be one of them. 

Slowly, he picks his way between the groups of people, opting to give the groups and quick look over to make sure no one is acting is suspicious. He covers most of them relatively quickly, a lot of them being young girls that look like they’re barely old enough to attend the concert alone, and then his gaze lands on a face that looks oddly familiar. He circled back around the particular group, one of the few made up of both guys and girls, slowing down at an angle where he can get a good look at the guy in question. He frowns, he knows that face — dark hair, slanted eyes, slightly pinched features that make him look like he’s permanently smelling something disgusting — but he can’t seem to place it. Part of him wonders if he was just a fanboy that Jeno had also seen at the Beijing show, but his gut is telling him differently. Suddenly, the boy looks up, as though he’d felt Jeno’s eyes on him, and Jeno moves to look away but the boy beats him, catches his eye before he can look away. There’s something about the way he’s looking at Jeno, mouth curving in a small half-smile that makes him feel like something is trying to crawl out of his skin. Jeno suppresses a shiver and looks away, heading back towards the side exit he had used earlier. He catches sight of Mark and Chenle returning to the van and changes course, making a beeline straight for them. 

━━━━━━

“So you’re saying, you saw _someone_ , but you don’t know who he is or how you know him?” Jaemin asks incredulously. They’re gathered in Mark’s room after the day’s rehearsals with Jeno having left Renjun explicit instructions to keep the door locked and to not let anyone in until he got back. Jeno had told Mark and Chenle about the fanboy he’d seen earlier and Mark had immediately called for the meeting to happen, wanting everyone’s input on the situation. 

“When you say it like that, it sounds a lot less dangerous but I swear to God this guy gave me the worst feelings, on top of me recognising him. _Fuck_ , I wish I knew where I’ve seen his face before!” Jeno is annoyed because he has spent the better part of the day trying to rack his brains, wanting so badly to remember how he knew the guy but the name continued to elude him. Jeno is thankful they’re gathered on top of the giant King-sizes bed because he’s sure he’d have kicked something in frustration by now. 

“Okay, calm down Jeno,” Mark says placing a hand on his knee. “If you say you suspect this guy then we’ll treat it as such. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it’s better that we’re prepared.”

Chenle and Jisung nod in agreement. “I’ve already called in a few favours to have metal detectors at the concert tomorrow and the stops after,” Chenle chimes in after. “Well, a favour for this stop because it’s so last minute.” 

Mark shoots him a wary look. “I hope that doesn’t mean it’s illegal, Zhong Chenle.” 

Chenle flashes a grin at him, teeth gleaming. “What you don’t know won’t kill you.” 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Mark mutters, dropping his head into his hands. “You’re answering for it then if we get caught.”

“We won’t get caught though,” Chenle says and it’s not even a brag at this point, he’s just that good. Jeno knows he’s made himself effectively traceless when he hacks, has seen him scrim with other hackers only to have them give up trying to find him not ten minutes in. 

Jeno ruffles his hair fondly, smiling at him. “Thanks, Chenle.”

He looks around at the rest of them to find Jaemin still frowning slightly. “What is it, Jaemin?” He asks, wincing when it comes out slightly sharper than he intended. 

“Don’t you think this is a bit… much? All because of a face you may or may not know and a gut feeling?”

Jeno frowns. “Everything we do is based on our gut feelings, Jaemin. What exactly are you trying to say?” 

Jaemin groans, scratching at the back of his neck as he tries to put his thoughts into words. “Are you sure you’re not just being…” he pauses, arms waving in the air as he looks everywhere except at Jeno. “... _protective_?”

“Protective?!” Jeno hisses, immediately feeling bad when Jisung flinches. “We are supposed to be protective Jaem. We’re his security team! Or have you forgotten that someone might be trying to kill him?!”

“You know that’s not what I mean!” Jaemin snaps and Mark’s head shoots out of his hands, worry clouding his features as he looks between Jeno and Jaemin. “Can you tell me, with one hundred per cent certainty, that you are _not_ emotionally compromised, Lee Jeno?!”

Mark’s eyes widen and Jisung has a hand clamped over Chenle’s mouth to stop him from saying anything. 

“I- What?!” Jeno falters, looking between Jaemin and Mark, whose expression is slowly shifting to one of concern. “Why the fuck would I be emotionally compromised?! It’s not like I’m in love with him.”

“You’re not answering the question!”

“And you’re not doing your job! Us tightening security will literally cost us nothing but if we mess up, it could cost him his _life_. Not to mention our reputation and that holiday you’re so looking forward to. Think about it, Jaemin.” 

With that, Jeno storms out of the room. He throws the door open and almost runs right smack into Donghyuck. 

“Donghyuck?” Jeno yelps, taking a step back and smacking into someone else, probably Jaemin chasing after him. “What are you doing here? Did something happen?”

“Oh! Uh, no,” Donghyuck answers, flushing slightly. ”I- uh… just needed to talk to Mark about- about something. Is… uh, is everyone in there?”

“Yeah, we just had some things to discuss but we’re wrapping up now. You can go on in if you want?” Jeno says, jerking his head towards the room.

“Oh no, no, it’s fine,” Donghyuck mumbles, backing away from them slightly. “I’ll just come back in a bit. Yeah. See you guys later!” And then he’s gone, hurrying back down the hall towards his own room. 

“What the fuck was that?” Jeno mumbles, more to himself than anything so it half startles him when Jaemin — because, of course, it’s Jaemin — answers him with a _who the fuck knows?_

Jeno whirls around, allowing Jaemin to step forward and the door to close. “I am still mad at you.”

Jaemin, for what it’s worth, does seem sorry, his head hanging low when he answers. “I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.”

“No, Jaemin,” Jeno says, placing both hands on Jaemin’s face and tilting it gently until Jaemin is looking at him. “You should have trusted me. Regardless of what my answer was to that question, you know I would never have let it affect the job.”

Jaemin sighs, eyes closing as he leans into Jeno’s touch slightly. “I know. I was just worried.”

“About what?” Jeno asks, incredulous.

There’s a pause where Jaemin doesn’t say anything and even when he speaks it’s softer, barely louder than a murmur. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Lee Jeno.”

Jeno immediately softens. “And why do you think I’m gonna get hurt?”

Jaemin opens his eyes then, taking a step back from Jeno as he answers. “Because I’m right. About you being emotionally compromised. And don’t even deny it because you know I know you better than yourself.”

Jeno stiffens, and he feels something settle under his skin, something cold and unwelcome. “Am I?” He asks, eyes widening as Jaemin nods. 

“Almost definitely, Lee Jeno.”

“How can you- how can you tell?” Jeno swallows, fighting the urge to run away from Jaemin and this conversation. 

“You’re looking at him differently now,” Jaemin says, crossing his arms as he leans against the wall, his gaze piercing. Jeno has never felt more exposed. “I don’t know what happened between yesterday and today but you’re not starstruck anymore. It’s something else.”

Jeno thinks back to this morning, to the way they’d had breakfast together for the first time, and to that little sneeze that- “ _Oh_.” Jeno breathes collapsing against the wall beside Jaemin as his legs threaten to give way. “Oh fuck.”

Jaemin smiles, nudging him gently with his shoulder. “Do you get it now?”

“Yeah, I think so but,” Jeno forces himself to take a deep breath before he passes out. “But how can I? I don’t even _know_ him.”

Jaemin laughs. “The heart works in mysterious ways, Lee Jeno.” Then he turns serious. “But I meant what I said, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Jeno sighs. “Do you think he’s going to hurt me?” 

“He hasn’t given me a reason to think otherwise,” Jaemin says pointedly. 

“That’s true, I guess,” Jeno replies dejectedly and Jaemin slips his hand into Jeno’s and squeezes. 

“Just, be careful okay Jen? I _do_ trust your instincts, and I don’t like what it’s telling me.”

“I don’t like what it’s telling me either, Jaems,” Jeno answers with a sigh. There’s a moment of silence where they just stand there, quiet, in the middle of the hotel corridor, both lost in their thoughts until Jaemin breaks it.

“So… does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” 

Jeno can’t help but burst out laughing, the tone so unfamiliar to his ears. “When have I ever stayed mad at you, Jaemin?”

“Never,” Jaemin grins and Jeno just shakes his head. “And now that I know you’re not mad at me anymore, you can go back to your _boyfriend_.” Jaemin continues, shoving Jeno playfully in the direction of his hotel room.

“What?!” Jeno splutters as his face heats up. “He’s not my- Na Jaemin! Get back here!”

But Jaemin is already dashing down the opposite hallway, waving cheekily. “I take it back!” Jeno shouts. “I’m still mad at you!” Jaemin merely blows him a kiss in reply before he disappears into his room. Jeno shakes his head at his best friend, feeling a lot better than he’d felt back in Mark’s room. 

When Jeno gets back to his room, he’s met with near darkness and complete silence, the only light is the one that had come on when he’d opened the door. Quietly, he locks and bolts the door, toes off his shoes and is about to slip into bed when he is stopped short by the scene in the next bed — Renjun is fast asleep but not only is he in those pyjamas again, he’s also hugging the hugest Moomin plushie Jeno has ever seen. It is so big that Renjun looks absolutely tiny beside it, not to mention the most peaceful Jeno has seen him since this whole job started — the lines of stress usually on his face smoothed away by sleep. Jeno’s heart does a weird thing and he has to bite back the urge to take out his phone and snap a photo. Instead, he forces himself into his bed and spends the rest of the night trying to convince himself that he isn’t totally and utterly _fucked_.

━━━━━━

Jeno is tense, it feels like bugs crawling around under his skin or that itch in a place you can’t reach, and he hates it. It is the next day, the day of the concert, and they’re driving into the concert venue and Jeno is like a live wire in the back seat of the van as he watches the already gathering crowd of fans. Every flash of a male fan’s face has his heart rate sky-rocketing and he doesn’t realise how tight he’s gripped the armrest of the van until they make to get off and he has to pry his stiff fingers off of it. He catches a glimpse of the main entrance on their way into the stadium and is glad to see that whatever Chenle had done had paid off; metal detectors stand right at the entrance to the main foyer, gleaming in the light of the morning sun and a part of Jeno relaxes. 

Unfortunately, Renjun notices him looking and follows his gaze, his brow furrowing when he makes out when exactly Jeno is looking at. “Are those really necessary?” he asks, squinting some more at the machines.

Jeno puts on the best nonchalant expression he can muster. “Of course. It’s our standard operating procedure.”

“Standard operating procedure?” Renjun hums, looking at him curiously. “I’m sure we didn’t have them in Beijing though.”

“There were complications with those ones,” Jeno says, half surprising himself with how smoothly the lie had fallen from his lips. “But they will be at all the other stops.”

Renjun looks at him and then the machines one more time, eyes narrowing. “Right. Sure.”

“That’s right, I am sure,” Jeno says as he ushers Renjun further into the building, eyes always searching for any sign of a threat. “Now c’mon, let’s get you into your dressing room.”

The dressing room is a strange place, Jeno thinks, as he watches various groups of people rush in and out, each of them contributing to Renjun’s transformation — from Renjun, the firey, young man who sleeps with a plushie in fluffy pyjamas to _Renjun_ , the singer, poised, professional, controlled down to the curve of his smile. He is seated in the furthest corner of the room, just opposite the door in order to give him the best view of whoever might be entering the room. 

A lady enters, a belt of brushes around her waist, and Jeno watches with a strange fascination as she walks over to Renjun, plucks out a small case from one of her belt’s compartments, deftly plucks out its contents and places them in Renjun’s eyes before she walks right back out of the room. Jeno looks at Renjun’s reflection in the mirror in front of him, thankful for the lights that line it because Jeno can see the effect of the contact lenses even from where he’s seated — Renjun’s eyes are now a light grey colour. 

There are so many people in the room at one point — two ladies stand behind Renjun as they style his hair, running around him are another two ladies with brushes around their waist who are dusting glitter over his cheeks and eyelids. Then another group of ladies who had arrived just after them, lugging giant suitcases into the room, and who are now slowly hanging up and steaming the contents of said suitcases. Finally, there is Donghyuck, who is playing the role of both Manager and Videographer today, armed with a giant DSLR that he shoots Renjun with. Meanwhile, Renjun remains completely silent aside from the few words he speaks to Donghyuck’s camera now and then. Jeno sees the shadows, hidden now underneath all the makeup, but obvious to Jeno all the same. 

He hasn’t really spoken to Renjun since their shared breakfast, and he knows Jaemin is right, something has definitely changed between them. For him, at least. But he can’t put his finger on it, doesn’t think he wants to because Jaemin was also right about another thing: he can’t afford to be emotionally compromised, at least not until it is all over and he has the freedom to just _feel_. He allows himself to observe to though, to indulge in this one thing partially because it is his job, and partially because, well, he just wants to. He takes note of all the little things Renjun does, things Renjun probably isn’t even aware of himself — the way his expressions change so fluidly, shifting between smiling and frowning, when he looks at his phone, the way he chews at his lower lip when he’s typing out a text, the way he seems to perk up at the sound of conversation around him even if he isn’t involved in it, the way he barely even looks at himself in the mirror, trusting his stylists do whatever they want with him. Jeno sees all this and almost finds himself wishing he could know more, but he knows better than that.

Eventually, the room starts to clear as stylists pack up their equipment, as the costumes are finally all pressed and hung on the racks that line the wall beside Jeno, as it gets closer to the show. This time, Jeno sees the big things, the things Renjun is aware of, the things he does when he thinks no one else is looking. He sees Renjun pull aside Donghyuck, who is on his phone collating lunch orders and tells him to order ramen instead of dosirak because one of his stylists had casually mentioned a ramen craving earlier. He sees Renjun get up from his seat when the room empties and starts cleaning up after everyone, clearing up the mess of food packets and drink cups that have been thrown about the room in everyone’s haste. He sees him grab a blanket from one of the suitcases when Donghyuck falls asleep and starts shivering, carefully tucking him into it without rousing him, and something in Jeno bursts. He knows what it is this time, gives in to the fondness and admiration that threaten to overwhelm him when Renjun smiles down at Donghyuck. But there is relief in there too, relief that Renjun isn’t all fangs and claws and poison, that maybe that was never really him in the first place. Jeno is also thankful when Renjun tucks himself into the tiny space between Donghyuck and the end of the couch he is on, blanket drawn over his own legs, that Renjun hasn’t noticed him. Because he got to see all this, this other side of Renjun and, quite possibly, the _real_ Renjun.

When the concert starts, Jeno is tense once again, eyes trying to cover as much ground as possible as he traverses the walkways between the standing pens. Jaemin squeezes his shoulder when they pass each other, the touch comforting but doing nothing to alleviate how highly strung Jeno is. He thinks back to that face, racks his brain one more time to try and remember who exactly those features belonged to but even now the answer escapes and he is left feeling annoyed at himself. 

It isn’t until halfway through the show that he spots him, that same fan buried behind two or three rows behind the bodies of other fans in the middle pen but even in the dark, those eyes seemed to glint, dangerous and just a little too menacing for Jeno to just brush aside. Jeno takes a step towards him and the guy’s head snaps to him, their gazes meeting above the heads of all the other fans, and then he smiles and Jeno’s blood runs cold. That smile, he knows it, has seen it many times over the course of a year, smiling down at him from the tops of obstacle courses and across sparring mats. The smile he knew back then was already a little off-kelter, a bit too wide for normal, but now, now it is undeniably off, so unhinged it makes Jeno want to put no less than ten bulletproof walls between Renjun and him. _Xue Yao_ . Jeno’s gaze turns into a glare and Xue Yao’s smile widens, Jeno takes another step towards him, trying to remain calm so that he doesn’t alarm Renjun but Xue Yao only shakes his head. He winks at Jeno once and then he’s gone, Jeno looks around trying to see over the tops of the fans’ heads for any sign of a retreating figure but there is no one. _Fuck_! Jeno wants to hit something but there are too many eyes, too many people watching, but if Xue Yao is the fan behind the letters then everything’s about to become a lot more complicated.

Jeno remains on edge for the rest of the concert, unable to keep still as he paces the walkways, an eye on Renjun at all times. Jaemin notices at some point, eyebrows raised questioningly as Jeno storms past a bundle of tension and nerves, but Jeno just shakes his head and mouths a quick _later_ . Jeno is restless, he is itching to do something, anything, but he can’t risk anything that might alert Renjun or, even worse, alert Xue Yao. The image of that smile flashes through his mind and this time he doesn’t suppress the shiver that runs right through his whole body. Even though right now, there is no certainty that Xue Yao _is_ the fan sending Renjun threatening letters, Jeno can’t help but worry over the coincidence of it all. Jeno doesn’t like it, and the waiting around is making him antsy, so he pulls out his phone and shoots a text off to Chenle instead asking him to run a thorough background check on Xue Yao. He really hopes he is wrong, that Xue Yao is nothing more than another of Renjun’s many fanboys, but something bitter stirs in his gut and he hates that it already tastes like fear.

When the concert ends, it takes all of Jeno’s self-control to not whisk Renjun away as fast as he can, so he does the next best thing: he sticks as close to Renjun as possible, refusing to allow him out of his sight. He even follows Renjun to the bathroom at one point, much to the singer’s annoyance, but Jeno is stubborn and chooses to ignore the look Renjun shoots his way. Jaemin pulls him aside at one point, quite literally because Jeno was refusing to let anyone go past him into the dressing room and asks him _what the fuck is going on_ but Jeno promises that they will talk about it when everyone is back at the hotel leaving a very disgruntled Jaemin in the doorway of the dressing room as he returns to Renjun’s side.

On the way back to the hotel, however, Jeno is distracted by how uncharacteristically quiet Renjun is — has been for the whole day really. In fact, when he thinks about it he realises that Renjun has been like that since Beijing, since that night. Jeno frowns as he watches Donghyuck try to make conversation with Renjun in the front seat only to have Renjun shake his head and turn away from him. He sighs inwardly, knowing that if Donghyuck can’t get him to talk, no one can.

They make their way up to the hotel room in the most awkward silence that’s ever existed between, Renjun barely acknowledging him when he holds the door open to let Renjun into the room. Before he can even try to speak, Renjun is grabbing his pyjamas from his luggage and making his way to the bathroom. Jeno stares at the locked bathroom door for a second, trying to figure out what could have happened in Beijing to have doused Renjun’s fire. He knows it’s probably Junhui but there’s no way for him to be sure and he’s too worried about Renjun’s safety to be angry with Junhui at the moment. In fact, what he really feels is just a little bit lost — he wants to keep Renjun safe but he also knows that Renjun probably needs the space to go through whatever he’s going through. 

The idea comes to Jeno in an instant. He drops his bag on the floor and dives onto his bed, phone in hand and google at the ready. He types in _Huang Renjun's favourite dessert_ presses the search button and hopes for the best. Immediately, the results are filled with numerous photos of Renjun having chocolate ice cream, and Jeno can’t help but laugh at how adorably simple it is. He’d been expecting something more extravagant like rice pudding, or bingsu but, as usual, Renjun surprises him. 

Smiling, he scrolls through the photos of Renjun and his many chocolate ice creams while he reaches across to dial the concierge. He snorts when he gets to a particularly messy one, where he assumes Renjun must have been on some game show or other and has to apologise to the concierge who answers at the exact same time. He puts his phone down and orders, not bothering to check the room service menu because he knows that as long as he mentions Renjun’s name, the hotel staff will get it done. 

And they do. Room service rings the bell fifteen minutes later and Jeno can’t help but thank his lucky stars that Renjun is still in the toilet. The hotel staff waiting outside the door carries a large plate with a metal food cover over it, which Jeno opens to double-check that his order has been carried out and is happy to be greeted by a large banana split sundae except the only ice cream flavour in it is chocolate. Jeno smiles at the girl as he thanks her, barely noticing the way she blushes up to the tops of her cheekbones when he does. 

Carefully, he places the plate on Renjun’s bedside table before grabbing a piece of paper off the desk. 

_I don’t know what’s bothering you, but I hope this makes you feel better. You have the room to yourself tonight, just make sure you lock the additional locks before you go to bed. I’ll be next door if you need anything :)_

He places the note on top of the metal cover before grabbing his stuff for the night, remembering to leave a message in the team group chat that he has something to talk to them about as well. He waits until he hears the sound of the shower turning off, and then he waits a couple of minutes more before he silently slips out of the room. 

He stands by the door waiting, knowing that he cannot leave until Renjun double locks the door, and for a moment all he hears is silence. Then he hears the footfalls of someone padding towards the door followed by the lock and slider clicking into place. Only when the sound of Renjun’s footsteps fades away does he allow himself to make his way to Jaemin’s room. 

He knocks on the door and the first thing that greets him is Jaemin, in a bathrobe with a towel slung over his hair asking, “Have you been sexiled again?”

“What? No,” Jeno huffs, pushing past Jaemin and into the room. He dumps his belongings on the side of the bed he usually takes before looking back at Jaemin, who is eyeing him warily. 

“Renjun hasn’t seemed very happy lately, so I thought some space would do him good,” Jeno explains as he grabs the clothes he brought and heads into the bathroom. 

Jaemin follows him in because privacy isn’t a concept for him and Jeno has long since accepted that. “Isn’t that the opposite of what you should be doing? With mystery guy hanging about, shouldn’t you be on high alert or something?”

Jeno strips and steps into the shower while Jaemin grabs his toothbrush and plants himself firmly on the toilet. “I am. I set up an audio monitor in the room, just in case, plus I made sure he double-locked and latched the door. Also, the mystery guy is the reason I called for a meeting.”

Jaemin looks up at that. “Why? Is it also the reason you’ve been so tense the entire evening?”

“Yeah,” Jeno says, turning on the shower and stepping into it. The warm water helps him to relax a little, some of his tension flowing out of him with the water. “Mystery guy isn’t a mystery anymore.”

“So, you finally remember who he is?” 

“Yeah,” Jeno says and he can feel his expression darkening. Jaemin must pick up on it because he immediately asks, “Who? Who is it, Jen?”

“Xue Yao,” Jeno spits, turning towards Jaemin while he shampoos his hair. “You remember him, right?”

Jaemin frowns around his toothbrush. “Scrawny kid, a bit weird, went to the academy with us?”

“Yup,” Jeno says, popping the P. 

“Hold up, didn’t he drop out after first year?” Jaemin asks as he gets up to rinse his mouth. 

“I think so,” Jeno says, turning back to reach for Jaemin’s body wash. “That’s what I remember anyway.”

“Do you think he’s the guy? The one threatening Renjun?” Jaemin asks, crossing his arms as he leans on the counter.

“I-,” Jeno stops, hand hovering over the shower lever. “I don’t know yet but I don’t have a good feeling about him. And remember how he was always a little weird back at the academy?”

Jaemin nods. 

“Well, I think he’s more than a little weird now, Jaems,” Jeno continues, turning toward him. “I don’t know but he- he looked at me and it just didn’t feel good. Like something felt off.”

“Wait a second,” Jaemin interjects, pushing off the counter to hand Jeno a towel. “He looked at you? Did he recognise you?”

“I think so, Jaemin,” Jeno sighs. “He saw me, smiled, _winked at me_ and then disappeared. It was like he was never there even though I know he was.”

“Fuck,” Jaemin curses. “I don’t like this either. We need to talk to the team.”

“That’s why I texted the team.” Jeno towels himself off and wraps the towel around his waist. “Can you get them to come here?”

“Already on it,” Jaemin says, pulling his phone out of the bathrobe pocket. 

Jeno walks over to the sink, gently nudging Jaemin aside with his hip so that he can brush his teeth. “By the way, I got Chenle to look into him. To see if he’s our guy.”

Jaemin turns to him, eyebrows raised as he slips his phone back into the pocket. “Someone’s eager.”

“You didn’t see him at the concert, Jaem,” Jeno scowls. “He wasn’t right. I needed answers as soon as possible.”

“And you will have them,” a voice calls triumphantly from the door as it swings open so wide it bangs into the cupboard behind it. 

“Oh, jeez,” Jaemin swears gripping Jeno’s arm when the door hits the cupboard and gives him a fright. “How the fuck did you get in here, Chenle?” Jaemin calls out.

They hear Chenle snort as he lets the door slam shut. “It’s not that hard to hack a digital lock, you know.” He rounds the corner, sees them in the bathroom and immediately jerks backwards covering Jisung’s eyes. “What the fuck, guys, did we interrupt something?!”

Jeno baulks but Jaemin knows an opportunity when he sees one. He wraps an arm around Jeno and tugs him closer, hooking his chin over Jeno’s shoulder smiling serenely as he turns towards Chenle. “You really should learn how to knock, Chenle. What if you walked in on something _worse?_ ”

Chenle looks absolutely mortified so Jeno takes pity on him, shoving Jaemin away. “Stop it, Jaemin. You weren’t interrupting anything, Chenle.”

“But you could have been,” Jaemin mutters and Jeno slaps him lightly across the arm. 

“You _weren’t,_ ” Jeno repeats. 

“Then why the hell are you both naked and in the bathroom together?!” Chenle squeaks, his ears a bright red.

That’s really all it takes for both Jaemin and Jeno to lose it, clutching each other as they laugh so hard Jeno feels like he might just suffocate from the lack of air. Jeno is the first to recover, wiping stray tears from his eyes as he looks back at Chenle who is still giving them the most disapproving look he’s ever seen on Chenle’s face. 

“First things first,” Jeno starts. “We are literally decent.” He gestures to the towel and bathrobe.

“Semantics,” Chenle grumbles, waving a hand dismissively. 

“Secondly, why are you acting like this is the first time you’ve seen us like this? We shower together all the time at home.”

“Have you forgotten that you guys have en-suite? I have no idea what the hell goes on in there, and after today, I really don’t think I want to,” Chenle retorts, nose scrunching as he glares as both of them. 

“Jaemin,” Jeno whispers conspiratorially but loud enough for Chenle and Jisung to hear. “I think we’ve scarred the babies.”

“I think so too,” Jaemin tuts with a shake of his head before breaking out into giggles. 

“I fucking hate you guys,” Chenle says, marching into the room. On the way in he grabs Jeno’s shirt and tosses it at him. “Now, _please_ , put on some clothes.”

Jeno catches it easily, swatting at Jaemin with it when he starts laughing again, before pulling it over his head. “Shut up. What if he really is scarred?”

Jaemin directs a pointed look at Jeno before reaching for the clothes that are hung on the towel rack. “You’re talking to a guy who’s hacked his way into and out of both government systems and criminal servers. Who knows what shit he’s seen? He’s the last person who would be scarred if he walked in on his friends not-fucking.”

“Fine,” Jeno grumbles. “You have a point.” He is about to continue when there’s a knock on the door. Jeno stumbles forward, tripping as he tries to pull on his pants while walking afraid that it might be Renjun at the door. Instead, he’s greeted by a very dishevelled-looking Mark who looks like he'd been eaten by a tornado and then spat back out. Jeno squints, and yup, his shirt is on backwards. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Jeno asks, stepping aside to let him in. “You look like the wrong end of a haystack.”

“Fell asleep, missed my alarm,” Mark mumbles, trying but failing to smooth down his hair. Jeno frowns when he checks his watch and realizes that it’s only nine.

“Sure, Mark,” Jaemin says, ripping the words from Jeno’s mind as he walks past Jeno to take his usual spot on the king-sized bed. Jeno follows, seating himself beside Jaemin. 

“Why have you called us here, Jeno?” Mark asks, shooting Jaemin a glare but otherwise ignoring his comment. 

Jeno takes a deep breath. “I remember who that guy is.” Jeno repeats everything he and Jaemin had talked about, including the fact that they had trained together for a year.

“Wait,” Chenle says after he is done talking. “Is this the guy you made me do a background check on?” 

Mark looks at him, eyes curious. “You've already asked him to run a check on the guy?” 

Jeno nods. “I didn’t want to wait.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t,” Chenle says and for once his tone is grave. “This guy is bad news. Like really bad news. You say he dropped out of the academy right?” Jaemin and Jeno nod. “Well, he didn’t actually drop out. He failed his psych evaluation.”

“He what?!” Jeno’s eyes are wide when the realisation of what that means kicks in.

“Yeah, he did,” Chenle continues. “Your academy kicked him out. But it looks like he managed to continue his training somewhere else, with someone completely off the grid.”

“Shit,” Jaemin hisses and Jeno silently agrees with the sentiment. 

“Do you know if he’s the guy sending Renjun those death threats?” Jeno asks quietly.

Chenle bites his lip, exchanges a glance with Jisung who nods before he answers. “Yes. He is.” 

Jeno sucks in a breath and he can see Jaemin’s attention snap to him but he doesn’t look, can’t bear to, not yet. 

“He’s very good though, or he has someone very good working for him.” Chenle states. “He rerouted multiple times through several other IPs but I managed to find the origin anyway. His last known IP address matches the IP address of the one who wrote the letter.”

“Fuck,” Jeno whispers and Jaemin places a comforting hand on his thigh. “If it is him then Renjun is in even more danger than we thought, especially now that we know he flunked his psych eval. Shit, he could do anything _and_ he has the same training that we do.” Jeno pauses for a second before looking up at Mark. “He recognised me.”

“What do you mean?” Mark’s voice is level but Jeno can see the flash of something in his expression.

“He saw me, earlier today. Well, we saw each other, and then he smiled at me. And winked at me. And I knew- I knew something wasn’t right, that maybe _he_ wasn’t right in the head, and you’ve just confirmed it, Chenle.” 

“And if the chances of him hurting Renjun before were maybe fifty per cent, it’s now at a hundred,” Mark adds. 

“Why?” Jisung asks, speaking up for the first time that night.

“Because,” Mark continues. “Now, Renjun is working with people who represent the very institution that rejected him, that kicked him out. He will be angry, and angry is dangerous.” Mark looks at Jeno then. “You should go back to him, I don’t know how safe he is anymore.”

Jeno pales. “He’s locked me out. I can’t go back tonight.”

Mark stares at him as though he’d just spoken in another language. “What do you mean _he’s locked you out_?”

Jeno explains what’s been going on with Renjun and how he thought that space was what he needed, not forgetting to add that he _does_ have the room monitored and that he’s not entirely incompetent. Mark doesn’t look entirely convinced but he knows there’s nothing much that anyone can do at this point. 

“I’ll talk to Donghyuck about Renjun,” Mark adds when Jeno is done explaining. “But from now on, Jeno, you can’t leave his side. Now that we know who is behind it, how dangerous he is, we have to be on our guard.” Jeno nods and Mark turns to Chenle. ”Chenle, can you add a facial recognition program to our camera software? We need to be able to find him in the crowd and fast. Jeno, Jaemin, and Jisung, since we are no longer dealing with a civilian you are allowed to use lethal force, if necessary. But _only_ , if necessary, this isn’t an assassination job, and it would easier for us if we let the authorities deal with this.”

Jeno sees Jaemin turn toward him out of the corner of his eyes, knows that Jaemin wants to know if he will be able to stick to _if necessary_ but he can’t answer, can’t guarantee that his first reaction won’t be to shoot on sight. So he shakes his head, small, barely a twitch, only enough for Jaemin to see and Jaemin responds by taking his hand and interlacing their fingers. It is a promise, an _I got you no matter what_ , and Jeno feels the weight of all their years together in that one moment. He squeezes back. _Thank you. You have me too._

━━━━━━

When the rest of the team leaves and they’re finally in bed, Jaemin asks him if he is afraid, and Jeno knows that Jaemin doesn’t mean for himself. He is silent for a while, not because he is thinking about it but because he knows what his answer is and he doesn’t know if he wants to give it life just yet. Eventually, though, he nods and he can feel Jaemin’s sigh from where he’s curled against Jaemin’s chest. 

“You care about him now,” Jaemin says, and it isn’t a question but Jeno nods anyway. “Don’t do anything stupid please. You’re all I have.” Jeno’s chest constricts at the reminder and he tucks himself closer to Jaemin as if to reassure him that he’s still there, will always be there.

“You’re all I have too, Jaemin,” he whispers. This isn’t to say that he doesn’t have the team because he knows that he also has them, that they would all go through hell and high water for each other. But before the team, it was just them, Jaemin and Jeno — each other’s reasons to go on during their harsh years of training at the Academy. They were the first family they’d chosen for themselves once the Academy had stripped them of any other family they knew, brothers in arms if not in blood. They’d go through hell for their team, yes, but they would raise hell for each other. 

He feels the soft press of lips against his forehead and he returns it, pressing his lips onto Jaemin’s sternum. 

“I love you,” Jaemin whispers.

“I love you too.”

* * *

**HONG KONG**

They get into Hong Kong early the next afternoon, the flight a short one, barely two hours long even though it had felt like an entire day to Jeno who was once again stuck with an uncomfortably silent Renjun. In fact, Renjun had barely spoken two words to after he’d let him back into the room earlier that morning, leaving Jeno wondering whether the dessert had been the two steps back to his one-stop forward in this weird dance he and Renjun have going. At least he’d had an annoyingly clingy Jaemin to keep him company during the journey, Donghyuck relinquishing his seat to Jaemin without any hesitation. Normally, Jeno would have started to feel too suffocated with Jaemin by that point but he’d figured they were both still feeling a bit too much from the night before so he had let it slide. If Renjun noticed, he never said anything, although Jeno is sure he’d been watching when Jaemin had lifted the armrest so that he could sleep curled against Jeno’s side.

Now, though, now they are in their third hotel of the week and Jeno can’t help but be amazed at how he and Renjun seem to have fallen into a rhythm with each other despite having only roomed together a grand total of four nights. Jeno takes the bed closest to the door and Renjun takes the bed closest to the window, and this time the hotel room is spacious enough that they can both have their suitcases open at the foot of the bed while still leaving room for them to walk. They are silent as they open their luggage, both of them crouched on the floor in front of their bags, the only sounds in the room are the clicking of the locks and the zippers being undone. Renjun’s luggage falls open with a loud crash, Renjun having miscalculated how heavy the one half of his luggage would be, and Jeno startles, head immediately whipping towards the sound. 

“Are you okay?” Jeno asks tentatively and then stops, his eyes catching on the giant Moomin plushie that is currently taking up a whole quarter of Renjun’s suitcase. Renjun follows his gaze and immediately blushes, looking back at Jeno with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I’m- I’m good,” Renjun answers quietly and Jeno has to fight the sudden urge to hold him. He nods towards the giant Moomin plushie and Renjun blushes harder.

“Why do you carry such a big toy around?” Jeno asks, backpedalling when he sees Renjun start worrying at his lips. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! I was just… curious.” Jeno trails off sheepishly as he feels his ears start to warm.

“Oh!” Renjun’s widen even more and he looks so impossibly cute in that oversized hoodie Jeno likes seeing him in that he can’t help but chuckle at the expression. The tips of Renjun’s ears redden even more but Renjun smiles and Jeno’s heart swells. 

“It was the first gift I’d ever gotten from a fan,” he explains, plucking it from the straps holding it down and hugging it to his chest. It covers about half his face. “It’s like my lucky charm now I guess, I bring it with me whenever I travel.”

If Jeno wasn’t soft before he is now, looking at Renjun cuddling this giant Moomin plushie to hide his embarrassment all Jeno wants to do is take them both in his arms and maybe kiss him. Maybe. Renjun is looking at him expectantly and Jeno has to shake his head to clear it. 

“It’s cute,” he says, and Renjun beams. They remain like that for a while, Renjun smiling as he picks at random pieces of fluff on his Moomin before he freezes and looks back up at Jeno as though a thought had just popped into his head. 

“I- uh,” he begins, and Jeno sees his hands clutch tighter at the plushie. “I just wanted to say thank you, for the uh- for the dessert. How did you know I like chocolate ice cream?”

“Uh… Google?” Jeno answers, a sheepish smile slowly etching his way into his face. 

Renjun laughs at that, the prettiest peals of laughter, light and almost melodious, and Jeno finds himself wanting to hear more of that sound, wants to be the reason for it. “You really googled my favourite dessert?”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly ask you now could I?” Jeno snorts. 

“You could have asked Donghyuck?” Renjun suggests, lips curving into a more sly smile. 

“He would have told you, and then my plan would have been ruined,” Jeno retorts. 

“So you admit that you planned it all out beforehand then,” Renjun says, smile sharp as he gets up to place the Moomin plushie on his bed almost reverently. 

“Uh, well,” Jeno splutters. “It was more of a spontaneous plan. You just looked… so sad and I…” Jeno trails off when Renjun’s face falls, not a lot, but enough for Jeno to notice. _Shit_. 

“I’m sorry,” Jeno says quietly, getting up to walk to Renjun who hasn’t moved from where he’s placed the plushie. “I didn’t mean to- to bring it up again.” He comes to a stop behind Renjun, arms aching to reach out and hold him but he doesn’t, so afraid of spooking him is he. 

“It’s fine,” Renjun’s voice is so tight as he remains resolutely facing away from Jeno, who really wishes he could take everything back right now. “I’m fine.” 

He isn’t, the tightness in his voice has spread to his entire body, and Jeno can see it in the way his shoulders have stiffened, in the way he’s started to curl into himself and something in Jeno snaps. Throwing all caution to the wind — because what the fuck is caution when Renjun is upset — Jeno places a hand on Renjun’s arm, spinning him gently before pulling him close and wrapping his arms around him. 

Renjun stiffens in his arms and he almost lets go, apology ready on his lips, but then Renjun relaxes, arms circling around Jeno’s waist as he lets out the breath he’d been holding. 

“I said I’m fine,” he mumbles against Jeno’s shirt but he doesn’t let go, just lets Jeno hold him. 

“I know.” Jeno smiles into his hair when he hears Renjun huff in disbelief. They stay like that for a while, Jeno rubbing circles into the small of Renjun’s back until he feels all the remaining tension bleed out of him. 

Jeno waits a while more before he speaks again. “Did it help though?” 

“Hmmm?” Renjun hums, the warmth of his breath seeping into Jeno’s shirt and making him tingle where it touches. 

“The ice cream. Did it help?”

“Yeah.” Jeno can hear the smile in his voice and he prays that Renjun can’t feel his heart stuttering in his chest. “Yeah, it did.”

━━━━━━

The rest of the day passes by in a flurry of sound checks and rehearsals and Jeno barely has the time to speak to Renjun for how busy he is but he’s thankful that it remains relatively uneventful. Chenle has the facial recognition programme running on the main computer in their van — a Hong Kong post one this time — and he’s assured them that the programme will be able to access the camera feeds and scan for Xue Yao’s features. The feeling of dread returns and settles, heavy and sour in Jeno’s gut and he prays that Chenle is right. 

The day of the concert dawns bright and sunny, a nice change from the last week of clouds and grey days, but that doesn’t do anything for the weight in Jeno’s gut. If he thought he was anxious in Taiwan, he is even worse now, it feels like his every hair is standing on end and if someone so much as touches him it will spark something he cannot control. He doesn’t know why he’s so uptight, nothing was picked up on any of the cameras during the rehearsals the day before, which is already a right side better than whatever happened in Taiwan except he still can’t bring himself to relax. 

He attaches himself to Renjun, thankful that for the first time that week, Renjun seems to be happier, the stress lines that normally crease his forehead less deep, the shadows under his eyes less dark. Renjun also seems to be more relaxed around him now, if the scrutinising look Donghyuck shoots them both is anything to go by, and Jeno can’t help but feel relieved that the one time he’d decided to be impulsive hasn’t backfired. 

They are both in the dressing room, it is an hour before the concert is supposed to start and fans are already filing into the arena. Jeno’s gaze flicks up to the screen that hangs above the doorway, watching as the fans slowly fill up the seats and open standing pens. Even though this is their third stop, he doesn’t think he will ever stop being amazed at how one Renjun is able to pull in a crowd so huge. He looks at the young man in the chair beside him, the sides of his already-styled hair pinned back so that the makeup artist can have easy access to his face. He’s already dressed in his opening outfit, a sleek grey suit with a pastel pink shirt that makes him look both so soft and also so… something else. Jeno shelves the thought, returning himself to the real world as he watches the makeup artist add the final touches to his eye makeup. 

He is just about to sink back into his chair when a voice crackles through the earpiece he’s wearing — issued by Chenle once they had raised the threat level for this operation. 

“Facial recognition got something!” Chenle hisses into his ear and Jeno stiffens, his hands tightening around the arms of the chair. “Shit! One of the cameras by the side entrance pinged it but he’s gone! Jeno, be careful.” 

“Jaemin, Jisung, I want you near the dressing room too and keep an eye out on the way there.” Another voice, Mark, sounds in his earpiece. “He wasn’t in the crowd, this time. That was a staff entrance camera.”

Jeno almost swears but he catches himself, careful to not alarm Renjun. He hates that he can’t say anything, that he can’t even tell him to be careful or to warn him of the danger. If it were him, he would have cancelled the tour, at least until everything was safe. Jeno can’t help the puff of breath that escapes him and Renjun glances over, raising a brow at him through the mirror but Jeno puts on the best smile he can, heart sinking slightly when Renjun returns it. 

Jaemin and Jisung arrive outside the dressing room barely a couple of minutes after Mark had spoken, the two of them standing like statues by the doorway. Jeno’s skin tingles and he places a hand over the weapon strapped to his thigh, the feeling of the hilt, rough under his palm giving him a strange kind of reassurance. As quietly as possible, he loosens it, pulls it out just enough, just in case. 

Nothing happens for a while, everything remains quiet — Renjun’s songs play through the speakers, production staff walk up and down the corridor outside the dressing room, Renjun hums a little as his stylists set everything into place. Everything is calm, but it is this calm that sets him on edge, senses tuned for _anything_ , and he can see this mirrored in Jaemin and Jisung, neither of them disguising the way they have a hand wrapped around their preferred weapon — Jaemin his dagger, Jisung his gun. 

They leave the dressing room half an hour before the show is about to start, Jeno completely attached to Renjun, while Jaemin and Jisung bring up the rear. If Renjun finds any of this weird, he doesn’t mention it, just follows Jeno when he gestures for them to start walking. Jeno reacts before he even knows what he is reacting to, hand coming out to block the swing of the blade as it arches towards Renjun. It stops, barely an inch from Renjun’s face. The silence is deafening for all of that one second and then Renjun screams. Jeno flies into action, twisting the arm of what looks like one of the production staff and sending the blade flying out of it and away. The guy hisses, swinging back with a well-placed kick to Jeno’s chest, which gives him back control of his body. The movement knocks the hat from his head and Jeno locks eyes with Xue Yao, eyes gleaming as he reaches behind him and Jeno immediately steps in front of Renjun, who had backed up against the wall. 

Jaemin and Jisung are immediately on him. “Take Renjun and go!” Jaemin yells and he tackles Xue Yao before he can get a good grip around the gun hanging at his hips. Jeno doesn’t wait to see what happens, knows that Jaemin and Jisung can handle themselves, he just grabs Renjun and _runs_. 

“Play something!” Jeno yells into his receiver as he pulls Renjun down the corridor knowing that if the crowd hears gunshots it will cause more panic than they are equipped to handle. He is about to pull Renjun into one of the storage rooms when a shot rings out. Renjun freezes, and Jeno can feel him trembling in his hand. Cursing inwardly, he redirects and heads towards the stage instead. He tugs Renjun into one of the walkways under the stage where it is completely blacked out without the lights the stagehands hold during the show but Jeno makes out an even darker patch of blackness and guides Renjun onto it. 

They clamber onto the stage lift, the sound of one of Renjun’s music videos blares loudly into the arena and Jeno is thankful to hear that the only screams are the cheers that erupt occasionally from the fans whenever Renjun appears on the screen. He pulls a still trembling Renjun into him as he places himself between the entrance of stage lift and Renjun, just in case. He can’t hear anything more from the fight, all he can hear is the sound of his and Renjun’s breaths, heavy and still discernible despite the loudness of the music. Renjun is shaking so much that Jeno has to pull them both down until they are both seated on the floor of the lift. He wraps his arms around Renjun, holding him to his chest as he murmurs words of comfort into his ears, all the while listening for any sound of movement. 

Jeno doesn’t know how long they sit there in the dark, doesn’t even know how many songs have played overhead, but he knows that it is when Renjun’s shakes finally start to lessen that he hears the sounds of footsteps in the corridor just beyond the stage. 

“We’re in a stage lift,” he whispers into his receiver and hears the footfalls change direction. Renjun starts at the sound of his voice so Jeno hushes him lightly, hands rubbing soothing circles into Renjun’s back until the tremors lessen even more. Jaemin and Jisung burst into the area they’re in and Jeno winces at the sight of them. Jisung looks okay, a part of his sleeve is torn and he is sweaty and dishevelled but he doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere else. Jaemin, on the other hand, is bleeding from a gash under his eye where a bruise is already starting to purple and Jeno can just make out the rip in his pants that already looks damp with blood. 

Renjun whirls around at the sound of their entrance and gasps when he takes in the state of them. He clambers out of Jeno’s hold and out of the lift, stopping just in front of Jaemin who looks about a second away from backing off. Renjun reaches out a hand and Jaemin’s eyes widen when he reaches for his face, his fingers just ghosting over the bruise and cut. 

“I’m sorry,” Renjun whispers, lowering his hand as he takes in the rest of Jaemin’s condition. “I’m so sorry.” 

Jaemin gapes — for just one second but it is enough for Jeno to notice and hold over him for the rest of his life — before he schools his expression. “It’s fine,” Jaemin smiles reassuringly at him. “It’s my job. Besides, I’ve had worse.”

Renjun frowns as he looks up at Jaemin, his gaze searching. “But it was my fault.” He looks at Jisung and then at Jeno. “You all got hurt because of me.”

Jaemin smiles. “It’s fine. Part of the job description,” and Jeno nods in agreement as he finally pushes his way out of the stage lift. He’s feeling the bruising in his ribs now that the adrenaline is wearing off and he winces when his feet make contact with the floor a bit too hard. 

He sees both Renjun and Jaemin’s expressions shift to ones of concern but he just smiles, pushing the pain to the back of his mind as he moves to stand beside Renjun. From this close, he can see how bad the bruising is on Jaemin’s face, and can see the way it is starting to swell around his cheekbones. Now it’s his turn, but he’s not as hesitant as Renjun, allowing himself to press gently around the bruising. Jaemin winces lightly but shows no other signs of pain and Jeno finally releases the breath he’s been holding. 

“You’re fine,” he whispers, reaching out to brush the hair back from Jaemin’s face. “Nothing’s broken. Ugly now though,” he adds with a laugh and Jaemin swats him on the shoulder. Beside him, Renjun watches their interaction with curiosity. “Go get that cleaned, Jaems, I’ve got Renjun.” Renjun turns towards him at the mention of his name, and Jeno smiles at him but what Jeno really wants to know is _did they get him?_ _Is Renjun safe now?_ But he can’t ask in front of Renjun anyway so he lets them go, Jaemin saluting as he gets dragged away by Jisung. 

Jeno turns to Renjun once Jaemin rounds the corner and is mildly surprised to see Renjun looking back at him. 

“Are you okay?” They ask at the same time, both pausing wide-eyed for a second before Renjun laughs while Jeno tries to but only manages a weak smile when pain lances through his side. Renjun pales, hands immediately reaching for Jeno. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I forgot,” Renjun whispers. Jeno can see the worry in his eyes so he smiles as reassuringly as possible, a hand resting over Renjun’s own as it rests on the spot Xue Yao had kicked him earlier. 

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Like Jaemin said, hazard of the job. And he wasn’t lying when he said we’ve been through worse. We’ll be fine.” 

Renjun frowns, not entirely believing, but then his arms circle Jeno’s waist and he is burying his face into Jeno’s shoulder. “‘M still sorry,” he mumbles and Jeno chuckles, wrapping his arms around Renjun too. 

“Don’t be.” He pauses. “Are you okay though? I can talk to Donghyuck about cancelling the show, you can just-,”

Renjun pulls back, brow furrowed. “Cancelling the show? I’m not cancelling the show.”

“Renjun…” Jeno can’t help the disapproval that leaks into his voice. “I’m sure your fans will understand. You were literally just attacked!”

Renjun shakes his head and tries to pull away from Jeno, who tightens his grip around him. “No, I can’t. They’re already here. All waiting. I can’t do this to them.”

Jeno sighs. “Nothing I say will make you cancel the show right?”

Renjun shakes his head resolutely. 

“Okay. But please go lie down for a bit. Your fans will understand if you delay the start another half hour or so.” He looks Renjun in the eye trying to convey as much of his concern as possible. 

Finally, Renjun caves, looking away as he mumbles his reluctant acquiescence. 

“Good,” Jeno replies and Renjun huffs. “Now let’s go. You’re not allowed to get up for the next fifteen minutes.” 

━━━━━━

Impressed is an understatement for how Jeno feels towards Renjun when the day is done because Jeno doesn’t think he’s seen anyone get up from being threatened at knifepoint to put on a show as good as Renjun had done following the incident. From his spot backstage, Jeno had watched as Renjun sang, danced, laughed along with his fans as if he hadn’t just been on the other end of the knife mere hours ago. Part of Jeno had thought that there was no way that could be healthy, the way Renjun had so obviously bottled all feelings related to the attack just so that he could keep a promise to his fans. But another part — arguably the much larger part — was just completely in awe at the sheer amount of strength it must have taken Renjun to stand on that stage after everything. Hell, Jeno had already felt the post-adrenaline exhaustion seeping into his bones, and he hadn’t even moved around all that much. 

Unfortunately, Jeno’s suspicions are right, and Renjun’s emotions manifest later on in the night when Jeno is ripped from sleep by the most bloodcurdling scream he’s ever heard in his life — and he’s heard a lot in his line of work. His hand curls around the dagger he’d put under his pillow earlier _just in case_ , as he flips the switch for the bedside lights. Their hotel room greets him, empty of anyone else save for him and Renjun, who lets out the most heart-wrenching wail. 

“Fuck,” Jeno hisses, slipping the dagger back under his pillow before jumping out of bed. He crouches down by Renjun’s bed and tries to shake him awake. 

“Renjun! Renjun, wake up!” Renjun shifts but doesn’t wake up and Jeno can still hear him whimpering softly. 

“Renjun?” Jeno tries again, giving him a gentle shake. “Renjun please wake up.”

Renjun’s eyes fly open and he grabs Jeno’s hand where it is still gripping his shoulder. “It’s okay,” Jeno whispers reassuringly. “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

Clarity finally returns to Renjun’s eyes and they lock on Jeno. “Jeno?” Renjun asks and Jeno’s heart breaks when he hears the tremor in his voice. Without a second thought, he slides himself under Renjun’s covers and pulls him close. Renjun buries his face in Jeno’s chest and Jeno wraps his arms tighter around him.

“It’s okay,” he breathes into Renjun’s hair. “You’re okay. It was just a dream.” Renjun doesn’t say anything for a while, just sniffles, and Jeno tries to ignore the way the front of his shirt is slowly getting soaked through. Eventually, Renjun speaks, his voice muffled by Jeno’s now very wet t-shirt.

“You were all dead,” Renjun whispers. “All of you, even Hyuck, and it was all my fault but there was nothing I could do and-,” 

“Hey,” Jeno interrupts, shushing him. “Breathe. I’m here. We’re all still here.” He leans back a bit to get Renjun’s face away from where it’s buried in his chest so he can tilt it upwards until Renjun is looking at him. He places his hands on Renjun’s face, cupping it gently as he wipes the tears away with his thumb. “See? All here. And I swear if you listen close enough, you can hear Jaemin snoring in the room beside us.”

Renjun lips twitch at that, the corners just curving upwards, but Jeno will take what he can get. At least Renjun isn’t crying anymore. They lie like that for a while, in the quiet of their hotel room, Jeno absentmindedly carding his fingers through Renjun’s hair until Renjun lets out a long, slow exhale and finally pushes away from him a bit. 

Jeno looks down at him with a smile. “Feel better?” He asks, and Renjun nods. 

“Good.” He tucks a strand of hair behind Renjun’s ear. “Can I go back?”

Renjun shakes his head violently, the hands gripping Jeno’s shirt tighten. “Can you… Can you stay with me tonight?” 

Something in his chest tightens and he swears Renjun can probably feel the way his heart is hammering in his chest after Renjun asks but he already knows that there is no way that he can reject Renjun. Especially not in this state. 

“Of course,” he answers. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

Renjun’s fists tighten for a brief moment, where they’re gripping Jeno's shirt like a lifeline before they relax and Renjun releases Jeno’s shirt to loop his arms around Jeno’s waist. Renjun’s face returns to where he had originally tucked himself into Jeno's shirt, and Jeno is suddenly acutely aware of their positions, of Renjun’s arms around him, the way their legs are slightly intertwined, and his brain promptly malfunctions. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind comes a voice that sounds annoyingly like one Na Jaemin saying _are you sure you really aren’t compromised?_ And Jeno really just wishes he was asleep at this point. He is brought out of his thoughts by a small huff of breath and he returns his attention to the young man currently attached to his chest.

“Thank you,” Renjun mumbles, still muffled, and Jeno’s heart combusts.

* * *

**BANGKOK**

“So,” Jaemin begins, and Jeno already knows what is coming. “Do you wanna tell me why the two of you are acting so…” He waves his arm in typical Jaemin fashion as he tries to think of the words. “So _weird_?” 

Jeno groans — he knew Jaemin would pick up on it. Renjun and Jeno had spent the majority of that day dancing around each other, not that they were ignoring each other but neither of them seemed to know what to do with themselves, only speaking to each other when they really needed to. They were speaking though, and Jeno had thought that a definite plus but apparently, Jaemin still thought otherwise. 

Now, they’re both standing in the wings of the stage, watching as Renjun does his final run-throughs and soundchecks for this stop. Jeno turns to him almost reluctantly. In the dim light of where they’re huddled, right by the stage manager’s station, Jeno can just make out the gash under Jaemin’s eye — already scabbed over — and it’s surrounding bruise, Jeno’s heart twinging when he remembers that Renjun isn’t the only one to have come out of the incident battered and bruised. 

“We’re not being weird,” he mutters. 

“Oh you definitely are,” Jaemin answers, the glint in his eye apparent even in the half-light. “Before, you guys were just awkward. Now, though, now it’s something else.” He narrows his eyes, arms crossing as he surveys Jeno. “So what happened?”

Jeno sighs, there really is no escaping when Jaemin is like this — bull-headed and ever-so-perceptive — Jeno was a lost cost the minute Jaemin had opened his mouth. 

“We slept together. No! Not like that you absolute heathen,” Jeno snaps, swatting him on the shoulder when Jaemin’s jaw drops and his eyes look like they’re about to pop out of their sockets. “I’m on a job!”

“Never stopped you before.” Jaemin’s smirk gleams in the darkness and Jeno really just wants to sock him. 

“For fuck’s sake, Jaemin. Shut up.” Jeno’s ears are burning and he’s never been so thankful to be standing in such almost-blackness. “I meant, together, as in, in the same bed!”

Jaemin eyes him in disbelief and Jeno lets out another groan in frustration. “He had a nightmare, okay? He was screaming in his sleep, said he saw us all dead. I couldn’t leave him after that.” _Not that he would have let me either._

Jaemin’s expression shifts into one of concern, his eyes darting to the figure currently standing under the spotlight in the middle of the stage. “Shit. Is he okay?”

Jeno follows his gaze, heart swelling when he sees the way Renjun stands, so tall and proud, so different to the person who had clung to him the night before and soaked his shirt in tears. “I think so. He’s such a strong person. He wouldn’t even let me talk him into cancelling the show, not even after everything that happened. Even now, he’s still acting as though nothing’s happened.” Jeno shakes his head. “But it did, and he’s facing it at night.”

“Fuck,” Jaemin breathes, eyes still trained on Renjun before he turns back to look at Jeno. “You’re so _whipped_ , Lee Jeno.” There’s just a hint of a smile on Jaemin’s face and Jeno is just about to open his mouth to respond when Jaemin’s expression becomes more serious, and he looks back towards the stage. “Look after him, okay? You’re the only one who can now.”

Jeno looks at him in surprise but Jaemin is still watching Renjun, so he turns back to the stage too. He watches Renjun as he dances, movements so smooth, so powerful, so beautiful, so _free_ , and Jeno’s heart aches with it.

“I will.”

━━━━━━

The rest of the team find them backstage some time following their conversation, Mark having called a meeting to discuss their plans for the current show. Ideally, they would have waited until they were back at the hotel but after what happened, no one wants Renjun out of their sight for any length of time. Everyone is a lot more tense now too, Jeno can see it in the darkness lining Mark’s eyes and the tightness in Chenle’s, even Jisung looks like he might snap at any given moment. Jeno was actually starting to give up on the idea that they would be able to regroup, what with them needing to keep the true extent of the situation a secret from Renjun but, thankfully, Donghyuck had worked his magic and had managed to wrangle an extra half an hour of rehearsal citing equipment testing and so here they are.

They’re crowded into a little alcove somewhere on stage right that is relatively hidden from the stage but still gives them a full view of everything that is currently going on. Mark clears his throat to get their attention and all of them start from where they’re watching Renjun get lifted on one of the elevated platforms. Jeno tears his eyes from Renjun to look at him.

Mark starts when he is sure he has everyone’s attention. “As I’m sure you are all aware, we haven’t been able to have a proper debrief since the attack yesterday, and we have another show tomorrow. So here’s a brief rundown of everything we have so far.” He pauses to take a breath. “Facial recognition, and Jaemin and Jisung, confirm that the person who attacked Renjun yesterday was indeed Xue Yao, who was able to get away after tricking Jaemin and Jisung.”

“Fucker,” Jaemin mutters angrily and Jeno squeezes his arm to silence him. Mark ignores him.

“He is clearly not above playing dirty to get what he wants so I want all of you to be extra careful. Don’t let him speak or talk you into things. I made Chenle do more research into him to find out what his motive is.” Everyone glances at Chenle then, who freezes slightly under the sudden attention before pulling out his phone.

“Okay,” Chenle begins as he searches through his phone. “You all know his name, and you know that he trained at the same academy as Jaemin and Jeno. I did some more digging and found out that he’s been a fan of Renjun’s for a long time. His digital signature traces back to Renjun’s earlier days, and he used to be a really active part of the fandom — going for as many of Renjun’s events as possible. However, all of this stopped some time early last year, and the only significant event its timing coincided with was the news of Renjun dating Wen Junhui.”

At the mention of his name Jeno stiffens, in light of everything that’s been happening he’s almost forgotten about Junhui. He and Jaemin exchange glances and he hates that he can detect a hint of sympathy in Jaemin’s eyes. He looks away, reminds himself that Junhui isn’t the problem right now, and returns his attention to Chenle.

“Nothing happened for a while after the news broke out,” Chenle continues. “Xue Yao just stopped showing up to Renjun’s events although it was significant enough for other members of the fandom to notice, with many of them commenting on his absence. However, it wasn’t until the tour was announced that things started to get ugly — photos of Renjun and Junhui were leaked and rumours started to spread regarding their relationship, they were an extremely hot topic in the Chinese media for a period of time. That was when the first threat was sent to the agency asking them to deny the rumours or Renjun will be hurt. Obviously, they disregarded it, thinking it as nothing more than hate mail. But the threats kept coming, and that was when Dream Entertainment called us in. My suspicion is,” he pauses for a typical Chenle dramatic effect. “He failed his psych eval due to borderline sociopathic tendencies, which was exercised in his obsession with Renjun. When Renjun started dating Junhui it effectively snapped whatever hold he might have had on his sanity so now, my guess is, he’s at the point where he’s convinced himself that if he can’t have Renjun, no one else can.”

Chenle finishes with a flourish, turning his phone off with an audible click. Jeno’s mind is reeling as he tries to catch up to what Chenle has just said. “So,” Jaemin asks carefully. “Xue Yao is going after Renjun because he’s _delusional_?”

Chenle frowns. “I think it’s a bit more complicated than that. He’d already failed your academy’s psych eval, which meant that he was already unsound. I guess Renjun was just an outlet.”

“What I want to know is,” Jeno begins. “How the _fuck_ he’d made it into the Academy in the first place. He shouldn’t have been accepted at all!”

“It must have been some kind of fluke,” Chenle mumbles.

“Well, a fluke gave him the skills to sneak into a concert, get backstage, and almost kill Renjun. He even managed to bust up Jaemin’s face!” Jeno is angry now, he can feel it bubbling upwards, seeking escape, and he really just wants to hit something, Xue Yao preferably. 

And then Jaemin’s hand is curling around his arm, his name falling from his lips, and Jeno immediately simmers. He doesn’t hesitate to glower at Jaemin though, who shrugs it off with a wry smile. He knows Jaemin is angry too, can see it in the hardness of his eyes, but they’ve always been able to keep each other in check and God knows, Jaemin is usually angry enough for the both of them. Mark waits for them both to settle down before he speaks again.

“Now is not the time to get angry,” he says, giving both Jaemin and Jeno pointed looks. “Right now, we need to think about how we can stop him from attacking again. And maybe catch him too,” he adds on as a final thought. “Earlier today, we’ve already set up security checks and cameras at the entrance to the backstage area, so anyone who doesn’t clear it will not be allowed backstage. Sadly, the only way I can think of catching him is if we let him into the arena but we tag him somehow so that we can keep track of him and grab him at a safe moment.”

“You want us to what?!” Jaemin half yells and Jeno has to hiss at him to be quiet because, as expected, Jaemin is angry enough for the both of them. “You want us to just let him walk right into the arena?!”

“Do you have any better ideas, Na Jaemin?” Mark snaps.

“Yeah, how about we just shoot the asshole?” Jaemin snaps back and Jeno groans.

“Jaemin, stand down.” Jeno places a hand on his shoulder and pulls him back from where he’s started to advance towards Mark. “We can’t shoot him because it will cause mass hysteria, and a lot of these fans are underage. As much as I would also like to put a bullet in him, I am not going to do that in front of kids.”

Jaemin gives in, returning to his spot beside Jeno with a very resigned huff. “Fine. We do it your way but if he gets too close to Renjun or any of you, I _will_ shoot him.”

“Try not to kill him though, okay?” Mark adds with a wry smile. “I’d rather we hand him over to authorities.”

There is a pause before, “can I at least bust up his face though?” Jaemin points to his face, pulling the best pout he can manage, and Mark just shakes his head, smiling fondly.

━━━━━━

They get back to the hotel a lot later than they’d originally planned, what with Renjun’s ‘extra rehearsals’ and the team’s debrief, and by then both Jeno and Renjun are too exhausted to do anything. There is still that air of _something_ that Jaemin had mentioned and Jeno chalks it up to neither of them wanting to bring up whatever happened the night before. They’d dumped their bags in the hotel before the sound checks but Jeno hadn’t been able to get a look at the room so he is only now realising that while their room still has two beds, each bed is so big that they could comfortably sleep on one. Jeno can’t help but think back to the night before, and while circumstances could have been better, he can’t say that he hated falling asleep with Renjun in his arms. Scratch that, he really liked it. 

He groans, collapsing onto his bed as he wills himself not to think about Renjun’s arms around him, Renjun fitting so perfectly against him, Renjun who is giving him the most pointed look as he grabs his bag of toiletries before heading into the bathroom. Fuck. He shouldn’t be thinking about that, for all he knows Renjun will be fine tonight and that will be the end of whatever it was. 

Needing to occupy himself, Jeno pushes himself off the bed to make sure that door is locked and latched before turning back to survey the hotel room. This one is undeniably bigger than any of the previous ones if the two double beds lining the left wall are anything to go by. Other than that, everything seems pretty standard — a large, wide window takes up most of the far wall, this one leading out onto a balcony instead of having a window seat, there is a sofa corner where a grey sofa stands, and of course, the desk area is fitted with a sizeable glass desk that will probably never be used like all the desks in their previous hotels. Jeno walks over to the balcony and gives it a quick tug to see if the lock is secure. When it doesn’t give, no matter how much Jeno tries, he nods in approval before pulling the curtains shut. 

“Is it locked?” A small voice asks from behind, and Jeno whirls around to find Renjun walking out of the bathroom, not in his fluffy pyjamas this time because Thailand is too hot for that, but Jeno thinks the plain t-shirt and shorts combo is just as lethal. Especially when Renjun is still towelling his hair dry and looking like something out of a commercial, which, Jeno supposed, he kind of is.

“Yeah, it’s all good,” Jeno answers with a nod and the tension he hadn’t noticed in Renjun’s shoulders leaves, and he relaxes. They stand like that, in a kind of awkward stalemate with Renjun in between Jeno and his bag (and the bathroom) for a while until Jeno finally decides that he’s just going to wash up. He is just about to walk past when Renjun grabs him and Jeno turns to find him staring resolutely at the floor, ears a bright red.

“Wait, Jeno,” Renjun releases him like he’s been burned and folds his arms across his chest, still staring at a spot on the carpet just beyond Jeno. “I, uh… I just wanted to say thank you, for last night.” He looks up at Jeno then, eyes sparkling prettily as he meets Jeno’s gaze. “I never really thanked you, for last night.”

Jeno takes him in for a second — the way his eyes shine big and earnest in the soft light of the hotel room, the light pink that dusts his cheeks despite the bright of his ears, the way he’s worrying absently at his lower lip out of nervousness, all of it so absolutely beautiful — before he offers him the most reassuring smile he can muster even though he’s so sure his heart is about to explode from his chest. “You don’t have to thank me.” He wants to say that it’s his job but it really isn’t, and he finds that he doesn’t want it to seem that way either. “Are you feeling better?”

Renjun bites his lip even more, and Jeno has to really try his hardest not to look before his brain completely fizzles out. “I- I don’t know.” Renjun looks away. “When I’m busy I don’t think about it and I’m fine but when I’m not… “ He trails off uncertainly.

Jeno gets it, knows the way the mind works when it comes to dealing with traumatic events, so he swallows his own nervousness. “Would you like me to sleep with you again, tonight?”

When Renjun turns to look at him with wide eyes, Jeno is almost afraid that he’s misread the situation and overstepped but then Renjun nods, so small that Jeno barely notices it. “Yes, please,” he breathes, the flush on his cheeks deepening until they are almost the same colour as his ears, and Jeno just wants to cup his face, to feel his warmth, to smooth his fingers over the reddening skin. Instead, he takes a step back, as much for his own sanity as for Renjun’s.

“Okay. Just let me wash up and I’ll be right out, okay?” He waits for Renjun to nod his assent before he grabs his own wash things and heads for the bathroom.

Jeno doesn’t think he’s ever showered so fast in his life, he tells himself it’s because he doesn’t want to leave Renjun alone because he doesn’t want to think of what it means otherwise. He steps out of the bathroom to find the room already in a state of semi-darkness, Renjun having switched off all of the lights except for the lamp on his bedside table. He’s sitting up in his bed, Moomin plushie in his arms as he reads something on his phone, and Jeno is suddenly overcome with nerves. He doesn’t know why, maybe it is the fact that tonight is planned instead of Jeno going off on instinct, but some part of him can’t help but feel like this means more than he thinks. 

Renjun looks up at him when he exits the bathroom and he smiles back, praying that his nervousness isn’t apparent on his face as he tries to delay the inevitable by slowly putting away his things, and hanging his towel up to dry on one of the chairs. When all that is done, and he knows he’s run out of things to do, he steels himself and takes a deep breath before walking over to Renjun’s bed. Renjun is a bit pink when he gets there but he’s infinitely a much braver man because he pulls back the covers for Jeno and gestures for him to get in. Jeno hesitates, just for a moment, before he slips under the covers beside Renjun. Renjun switches the lights off and then they just lie there, awkwardly side by side, arms barely touching. Renjun, once again the braver man, shifts first, rolling onto his side so he is facing Jeno.

“Is it okay if uh… “ There is more movement and then he feels an arm wrap around his waist tentatively and _oh_ , he wants to cuddle. Jeno is slightly endeared by the fact that Renjun couldn’t say it out loud and immediately readjusts both of them, slipping an arm under Renjun so that he is pillowed against his chest. He slips his own arm over Renjun’s waist and pulls him closer, just a bit, and nearly self-destructs when Renjun finally melts against his side.

“Is this okay?” He whispers into Renjun’s hair and Renjun nods, Jeno feeling the movement against his chest. Renjun is so soft and warm against him, the smell of his vanilla-scented soap so comforting that Jeno finds himself almost dozing off immediately. He is on the edge of sleep when Renjun breaks the silence.

“I’m sorry,” Renjun murmurs. Jeno is confused and the way Renjun is trailing his fingers along his waist is extremely distracting.

“Hmm? What for?”

“For being a complete asshole when we first met. I know I didn’t make it easy for you guys.”

Jeno chuckles at the memory of Renjun, kicking up a fuss and promising to make things difficult. “It’s fine. Most of us had already written it off as typical celebrity behaviour anyway.”

“ _Most_ of you?” Renjun asks, teasing lightly.

“Well, some of us believed there was more to you than just your prickly, diva exterior,” Jeno counters, laughing when Renjun swats him lightly on the stomach.

“And were some of you right?”

“We’re still finding that out. I’ll get back to you when we do.” Renjun laughs at that, bright peals that sound so pretty to Jeno’s ears, before he quietens down, curling even more into Jeno when he does.

“I’m still sorry though,” Renjun continues, voice soft as it ghosts over the side of Jeno’s neck. “I promise I’m not really an asshole.”

“I know,” Jeno whispers.

They are silent for a while after that and Jeno thinks that maybe Renjun has fallen asleep but he speaks again a moment later. “Do you…” he falters. “Do you know who the guy is? The one who attacked me...us.”

Jeno tries his best not to sigh because he knows Renjun will be able to feel it, but he’s been expecting this question for a while now. A part of him is surprised Renjun didn’t ask him sooner. “Yeah, we do.”

“Who was he?” Renjun is now gripping his shirt so tight, Jeno thinks he might actually rip it. Carefully, he pries Renjun’s fingers away from his shirt and slips his own fingers into the spaces so that at least Renjun still has something to hold.

“Just a crazy fan, no one important,” Jeno lies, although it really _isn’t_ a lie, but he knows Renjun doesn’t really believe him when his only response is a hum. 

“But he had a knife,” Renjun huffs.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jeno says, reassuring as he slowly rubs circles into the back of Renjun’s hand with his thumb. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Renjun sighs. “But what if they hurt you?” 

Jeno’s heart stutters and he swears Renjun must know, must have felt that way his heart had just skipped a beat and he freezes for a second as he tries to process that idea that Renjun is worried _about him_. “I’ll be fine,” he says eventually, once his brain has started working again. 

Renjun huffs again and mumbles something that sounds a lot like _you better_ into his shirt and Jeno laughs lightly. “I will,” he promises, pressing his lips against Renjun’s forehead reflexively before his brain catches up to him and he freezes. “Oh my god,” he breathes out. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to- it was just… a force of habit. Shit.”

“Jeno,” Renjun says firmly, pulling back and disentangling his fingers from Jeno’s so he can grab his face. “Relax. It’s fine. Here, if it makes you feel better…” He trails off and pulls Jeno’s face closer to his so that he can brush his lips across Jeno’s forehead as well and Jeno has a split second to marvel at their softness before they’re gone. “There, now we’re even.”

Renjun settles back into Jeno’s arms as though he hadn’t just kissed him back, and Jeno is so sure that Renjun is going to be the death of him one day. “Stop thinking so loudly,” Renjun mumbles, arm once again wrapping around Jeno’s waist. “Go to sleep.”

Jeno curls his own arm around Renjun’s waist as he feels sleep start to take him and thinks that if he gets to have this then he will gladly let Renjun be the death of him.

━━━━━━

The following day, Jeno is relieved when he realises that Renjun is no longer acting awkward around him, and he silently thanks every single power he knows that whatever had happened the previous night hadn’t freaked Renjun out. In fact, it seems like they’d finally crossed an invisible barrier because Renjun has started taking to curling into Jeno’s side every time they’re seated in the dressing room and it must be so horribly out of character because even Donghyuck is starting to give them strange looks. 

Jeno, for what it’s worth, takes it in good stride and provides whatever comfort Renjun needs when he does that and he would rather take Donghyuck’s stares over Renjun being awkward with him again. Also, Renjun no longer being awkward means he can now focus on the really important things, like his security. With this being the first concert following the attack, everyone is highly strung, Jisung had even snapped at Chenle at one point shocking the rest of the team into silence. 

With the plan being to catch Xue Yao, Mark had taken it upon himself to do the tagging, leaving Chenle the only one in the van while Mark poses as venue security at the entrance. So they wait, Jeno on guard backstage, Jaemin and Jisung on the ground, Chenle in the van, but nothing happens — no alarms are tripped, nothing triggers any facial recognition, and the show passes as smoothly as it had in Beijing. This makes them even more anxious because there is no way this hadn’t been a calculated move on Xue Yao’s part, which means he’s probably biding his time until the perfect opportunity presents itself. 

To Jeno, this means that the next stop — the final tour stop — is the guy’s last chance to get at Renjun and the significance of choosing the final stop as his final attempt means that this will be the end. They either catch him, or Renjun dies. He tells the team as much on the way back to the hotel, all of their debriefs having been relegated to their group chat to avoid alarming Renjun. 

Jisung voices — or texts — his agreement, adding in that Xue Yao seemed to favour blades over anything explosive, having not touched his gun at all during the fight with Jisung and Jaemin. But Jaemin voices that they shouldn’t put it past the guy to do anything to get what he wants, even if it means collateral damage. Jeno suppresses a sigh, careful to not alert the half-asleep Renjun currently resting on his shoulder. _So basically,_ he types, _we just have to catch this guy before he even has the chance to execute whatever plan he has_. 

Mark responds with a _sounds about right_ and Jeno wants to smash his head on the window. He is frustrated, not with his team, but with the whole situation — they are quite literally going off nothing, the guy is a complete loose cannon and no one really knows what to expect. If they’d known who they were dealing with going into the job, they would have been able to better prepare for it but they’d all assumed this would be an easy bodyguarding job, nothing more, and Renjun would probably end up paying for it. 

And then there is Renjun, Renjun who was only supposed to be a mild nuisance for the better part of two weeks but who had wormed his way into Jeno’s heart so easily leaving him open and vulnerable during a time when he needs to be focused. Dregs of a conversation long-past filter into his mind, of Jaemin’s voice, asking him if he was emotionally compromised, of his own uncertainty then. Well, he looks down at the figure beside him, he is certain now because the thought of anything happening to Renjun fills him with so much dread and fear, way beyond what he should be feeling as a member of his security detail. _Don’t do anything stupid please_ , Jaemin’s voice echoes in his mind and he closes his eyes, thumping his head against the back of the seat with a groan. 

Beside him, Renjun stirs, eyes bleary as he twists to look up at Jeno. “What is it? What’s wrong?” 

_Everything._ “Nothing. Just the team.” Renjun hums in response and Jeno thinks he’s gone back to sleep but then a hand slips into his, fingers interlacing with his almost carefully, and Jeno thinks that he may as well have just wrapped them around his heart. 

When they get back to the hotel room, Jeno is the one who showers first this time and he is halfway through shampooing when he hears voices, no… _a_ voice? coming from the room. Carefully, he exits the shower, leaving the water running just in case, and presses his ear to the door. It’s Renjun’s voice he hears, talking to someone, but when he doesn’t hear a reply he relaxes. Renjun is probably on the phone, which is still weird since he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Renjun on a call the entire tour, but at least no one has broken into the room. He listens one more time, just to be safe and when he is absolutely sure that there is no one else in the room, and that Renjun isn’t distressed, he allows himself to return to his shower. 

He regrets that decision the minute he steps out of the bathroom and realises the room is empty. Swearing to himself, he does a quick once-over of the room but nothing seems out of place aside from the fact that Renjun is missing. He glances towards Renjun’s bedside table and, great, Renjun’s phone is gone, which means Renjun is at least traceable if he’s not contactable. Part of Jeno wants to panic but he puts that part in a box and shoves it into the deepest parts of his mind, letting his training kick in. From what he can tell, there was no struggle so Renjun probably left of his own accord, and that means Donghyuck should be able to get a hold of him. 

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he grabs his gun, strapping the holster under his shirt and lets himself out of their room. He makes a beeline straight for the room he knows to be Donghyuck’s and hammers on the door. Jeno hears movement behind the door before it opens revealing a very dishevelled, very shirtless Donghyuck followed by an equally shirtless Mark who pales before flushing the brightest red Jeno has ever seen when he realises who is at the door. 

Jeno looks between the two of them. “What the fuck?!” And then he shakes himself. “You know what, nevermind. I don’t even wanna know. What I do need, Donghyuck, is for you to call Renjun. Right now.” 

“Renjun?” Donghyuck is looking at him in confusion and Jeno really wants to shake him but he holds himself back. 

“Yes, Renjun. He’s _gone_ , Donghyuck!” 

“I- What?!” Donghyuck comes to his senses when he finally processes Jeno’s word. “What do you mean he’s gone?”

“I mean, I came out of the shower and the room was empty. _Please_ , call him!” Jeno knows that panic is starting to seep into his voice but he no longer cares, the need to find Renjun slowly overtaking rational thought. 

“Oh fuck. Right, of course, I’ll call him. One sec.” He takes a step back and Mark comes forward, no longer flushed or embarrassed, having slipped back into professional-mode the minute he’d heard the words _Renjun_ and _gone._

“What happened?” He asks every bit the leader Jeno knows and needs right about now. 

“I don’t know. He was on the phone when I was in the shower, and when I came out he was gone! I didn’t even hear the door. Fuck!” Jeno runs a hand through his hair in frustration. Mark places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, the touch grounding him enough for him to take a breath. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him, okay?” Jeno can only nod mutely, not trusting himself to speak. 

From behind Mark, Jeno hears Donghyuck swear. Mark turns to him. “What is it?” Jeno doesn’t miss the change in Mark’s tone but he files that away from later. 

“He’s not picking up!”

Jeno pushes past Mark into the room to where Donghyuck is standing. “Is he sharing his location with you?”

“Oh!” Donghyuck’s eyes widen. “Oh! Yeah okay, hold on.” Jeno watches as Donghyuck fumbles around with his phone for a second, Mark coming up behind. “Got it!” Donghyuck tells triumphantly before his brow starts to furrow. 

“What?” Jeno asks. He really doesn’t know how many more of these starts he can take before he loses his mind. 

“It… It says he’s still here, in the hotel.”

“What? What do you mean?” Donghyuck hands him the phone wordlessly and Jeno sees the little dot that represents Renjun right over the hotel.

Jeno groans, handing the phone back to Donghyuck before burying his head in his hands. Does this mean that Renjun’s phone was dumped here? Before what? Jeno really doesn’t want to think about what could have happened. He’s about to ask Mark for a secondary course of action when he hears a sharp intake of breath. He looks up to find Donghyuck staring at his phone and then looking at Mark, who looks over before sharing the same look with him. 

“Guys,” Jeno snaps. “I don’t understand your couple eye language, can someone translate please?” 

Mark clears his throat and has the decency to look slightly sheepish but Donghyuck is completely unashamed. He looks at Mark one last time, who nods. 

“Uh…” He begins. “Junhui’s here.”

Jeno’s blood runs cold and then it burns. “What?”

Donghyuck pales and edges a bit behind Mark. “I mean, he’s here. In Bangkok. I- Maybe, Renjun went to meet him. If he’s still in the building, he might be at the bar downstairs.”

Something constricts in Jeno’s chest but he swallows past it. “I’ll go look,” he says. Donghyuck moves as if to say something but Mark grabs him, shaking his head minutely. 

Jeno looks between the two of them and his tone is hard when he finally speaks. “I’m going. You two can stay here and carry on whatever it is you were doing, or you can come with me.”

Mark sighs, grabbing one of the shirts on the bed without even looking at it. “I’ll go with you. You can stay, Hyuck.”

“Nah, I’m going with you. I’ve told Renjun so many times…” he trails off as he pulls a shirt over his head too. 

Jeno isn’t even in the mood to be angry anymore, because if Renjun is with Junhui then at least he’s safe. But if Renjun is with Junhui then… Jeno really doesn’t want to think about it.

The three of them make their way down in silence, Mark and Donghyuck bringing up his rear when they walk out of the elevators. Jeno looks around for the sign that will lead them to the bar and follows its directions down a hallway leading away from the main lobby. The entrance to the bar is at the end of the hallway and he’s about halfway down when two figures step out. 

Jeno stops so abruptly when he recognises them that Donghyuck almost walks right into him. He watches as Junhui bends to press a kiss to Renjun’s forehead before pulling him into a hug. Renjun goes willingly, arms wrapping around Junhui’s waist so naturally that something in Jeno shatters, he thinks it’s his heart but he can’t feel anything beyond the rushing in his ears and the heat on his face. 

He must make a noise because Renjun startles backwards, turning towards them. “Jeno? Mark, Hyuck, what are you doing here?”

“We should be asking you that question,” Mark says gently and somewhere in the back of his mind Jeno realises that Donghyuck is probably too angry to speak as well. “Jeno’s been losing his mind trying to find you.”

“I-,” Renjun gapes before lowering his head. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you never do, do you? Not when it comes to him.” Jeno jerks his head in Junhui’s direction who looks very much like a deer caught in headlights. Somewhere inside, Jeno knows he shouldn’t be saying these things, shouldn’t be speaking at all, but it’s like a floodgate that’s been open and everything comes pouring out of his mouth. “I assume you’ll be wanting the room tonight too, so go ahead. I’ll get someone to stand guard until he leaves.”

“Jeno…” Mark’s tone is a warning but before he can continue, Renjun starts speaking. 

“No! I- What?” Renjun frowns as he takes slow hesitant steps towards Jeno, who would have backed away if Mark and Donghyuck weren’t directly behind him. Renjun stops just in front of him, eyes searching his and an arm reaching for him, which he expertly dodges. “What are you saying?” 

“I’m saying,” Jeno forces out through gritted teeth. “You two can have the room tonight, I’m gonna stay with Jaemin.”

“Why would we-?” Renjun stops, starts again. “Jeno, what are you-?”

Jeno interrupts him before he can finish, gaze as cold as the lump in his chest. “Next time, if you’re gonna make these plans at least tell me. Do you know how worried I was when I came out of the bathroom and you were _gone?_ Renjun, I-,” he breaks off with a strangled noise. “I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you are.”

“Jeno…” Renjun reaches for him again but Jeno backs away, head shaking. 

“No, Renjun. Please, just… Don’t.” He looks to Junhui, who is trying very hard to make himself blend into the wall, before returning his gaze to Renjun. “You two have fun tonight.”

With that, he shoves past Mark and Donghyuck and walks out into the hall. He can hear Renjun calling after him but he figures Mark and Donghyuck are holding him back because Renjun’s voice diminishes the further he gets from them, and he is thankful. He is too angry, and too hurt, to think rationally at the moment, and he knows that if he opens his mouth again he will either start yelling or crying. 

He doesn’t know how he manages but he makes it back to their floor, barely aware of anything except for the silence ringing in his head, and heads straight for the room opposite the one he’s supposed to share with Renjun. He’s barely knocked once before the door opens and he’s pulled into familiar arms. 

“Oh, Jeno,” Jaemin breathes and Jeno buries his face in Jaemin’s neck and cries.

* * *

**SEOUL**

It is back to icebox temperatures when they land in Seoul two days later, the wind slicing right through his jacket feels apt to the way Jeno’s been feeling the last two days — completely and utterly numb. He hasn’t spoken to Renjun since that day, has relinquished his role as Renjun’s personal bodyguard to Jisung, promising that he’d take over once they get to Seoul. His radio silence wasn’t for lack of trying on Renjun’s part who’d spent most of those two days trying to speak to him, had even gotten his phone number from Donghyuck so that he could try calling and texting him but Jeno was resolute. In order to do his job well in Seoul, he would need space to clear his head. 

Not that it had helped, all he had gotten out of it was more miserable and then he had hated that he’d gotten miserable and it had ended up being a vicious cycle that he was still suffering from. In the end, it was Jaemin who’d gotten him to talk — more like threatened him really — and he had laid his heart out on the table for Jaemin to pick at. Of course, it hadn’t been easy, Jaemin had called him out for emotionally compromising himself and then called him an idiot for jumping to conclusions, but he had also told him it was okay to feel for Renjun the way he did, and that being jealous came with the territory. Because, yes, he had been jealous but also anxious and worried and so scared that all of it had culminated in so much anger that he’d lashed out at Renjun. So yes, he is sorry, but he is also really not ready to face Renjun yet. And yet, when he sees Renjun shiver from the biting winds that whip around them as they wait for their ride to the hotel, his traitorous heart aches to be the one to warm him up. 

In the end, Jisung and Jeno come to an agreement; Jisung will room with Renjun while Jeno takes on the personal bodyguard role every other time, he’d also promised Jisung that he’d buy him lunch for a week but he doesn’t count that. He is grateful that Jisung agreed to the arrangement though, because Seoul is the Big One, D-Day, the Final Stage, and as much as Jeno is still hurt and upset, it would hurt him even more if something happened to Renjun. 

Jeno, and everyone else really, is taking it upon themselves to be extra vigilant for this show — Chenle’s gone through every possible camera blind spot in the venue and is now getting rid of them by adding his own cameras into those spots, Jisung and Jaemin are checking every single staff member and volunteer that comes backstage, every time they pass through the doors regardless of whether they’d already been checked. Jeno’s been stuck to Renjun, as close as possible while maintaining a professional distance. He can’t say it doesn’t hurt, being this close to Renjun and not being able to look at him without his heart aching. Donghyuck, for all his anger at Renjun, had taken one look at him, called him an idiot, and given him his hot chocolate before disappearing down the corridor. 

That is how Jeno finds himself on the day of the concert, another cup of hot chocolate in hand as he watches Donghyuck saunter down the hallway away from him. He must look pretty miserable, he surmises, if even Donghyuck is taking pity on him and force-feeding him sweet things. Renjun is in his dressing room, putting on his final touches for the show, while Jeno waits just outside the door. He goes through the plan in his head — Jaemin and Jisung are stationed on the ground as usual, Jeno will be backstage in the wings, this time Chenle is the one at the venue entrance, ready with the tag when Xue Yao comes because Chenle is the only one who hasn’t been seen at a venue yet, and Mark has control of comms. Chenle will tag Xue Yao, twice because they’re not going to take any chances — once on his ticket and another on his clothes in case he somehow gets rid of his ticket — then Jaemin and Jisung will track him and grab him, hopefully before anything happens. He sighs, resting his head on the wall behind him as he closes his eyes. He really hopes nothing happens. 

“Jeno?” A small voice says and his heart stutters, like the traitor it is. He opens an eye to find Renjun standing in front of him in all his made-up glory. He looks absolutely exquisite, so beautiful his heart hurts just looking at him, and then his heart hurts, even more, when he sees the strain of the last two days on his face, the shadows under his eyes barely covered by his concealer and the puffiness in his face that Jeno knows has to be from crying because it’s all over his face too. He knows they have to talk, they really do, but now is not the time because he needs to _focus_. 

“Renjun, please. Not now.” His voice sounds exhausted, even to himself but he supposed it’s because he actually is exhausted. 

“Then when?” Renjun’s voice is half-raised and he sees some of the staff members in the corridor turn towards them. “Would you please just let me explain?”

He grabs Renjun and pulls them into the dressing room, away from the prying eyes of everyone else. “What is there to explain, Renjun? Why do I care what the fuck you do with Junhui, or anyone else?!” 

“Why _do_ you care, Jeno?!” Renjun yells. “Because I _know_ you do! Or you wouldn't be this mad.”

“Why do you think, Renjun!” Jeno yells back, Renjun flinching from the force of his words and the shock of Jeno raising his voice at him for the first time. Jeno hates the way his expression shifts to hurt for a brief second before he schools it again. They stand there in silence, breathing heavily as they glare at each other. This time, Jeno is the one to speak first. 

“This is why I didn’t want to do this now, Renjun. We both have jobs to do, so go do yours and let me do mine. We can talk when this is all over.”

There is a pause, and Renjun looks up at him with _something_ in his eyes that squeezes at his heart.

“Will I still see you, when this is all over?” He asks, his voice so small that if Jeno hadn’t seen his lips move, he would have thought he’d hallucinated it. When Jeno doesn’t answer, Renjun just gives him a sad smile before he turns around and leaves the dressing room. 

He catches up to Renjun but gives him a wide enough berth that neither will feel the need to acknowledge the other’s presence. He waits patiently as Renjun’s head mic gets readjusted by the stage manager, who has to grab more tape so that it won’t move when he dances. Halfway through that, a voice crackles in his ear, just a really quick _he’s here_ followed by a _Jaemin and Jisung standby_. Jeno freezes, just for a second, eyes darting outwards towards the crowd almost as if he can make out a single face in the sea of thousands. Then he steadies himself, puts his conscious mind and all his emotions into that box and buries it deep into the sands of his subconscious and lets his training take over. Beside him, he is only vaguely aware of Renjun glancing at what must have been a very obvious change in demeanour before the lights dim, and the show begins. 

The first half of the concert passes without any update from Mark on the comms, Jeno is still in his training headspace, completely on standby for any order from Mark but none comes. The only thing they know is that Xue Yao is somewhere in the right side standing pit, both trackers giving off strong signals, but there are too many people for them to get him out without him hurting anyone. Jeno catches the occasional glimpse of Jaemin and Jisung as they pass by but they can’t see him from where they are anyway. 

It is only during the second half of the show that he finally hears Mark’s voice again — anxious this time as he calls for Jaemin and Jisung. _He’s moving! We think he’s trying to get to the front. Jaemin and Jisung I need you to head him off now! It looks like he’s going for it. Jeno, please look out for-_

The voice in Jeno’s ear gets cut off when Jeno catches a glint, a small one, but just different enough from all the lights in the crowd to trigger Jeno’s reflexes. Everything shuts down around him, he hears nothing but sees absolutely _everything_. The world around him slows as something catches the light again and all Jeno can think of is diving for Renjun. He catches him around the waist and slams him into the ground, the crowd is probably screaming he thinks, but all he can think of is Renjun, and making sure that he is okay. 

He looks down and Renjun’s eyes are wide and he’s panicking so Jeno checks, runs his hands all over Renjun’s body just to make sure he’s okay, that nothing got to him, but Renjun swats his hand away and he’s crying? Why is he crying? He wants to ask, wants to tell him that he’s okay, that there’s no need to cry but nothing comes out of his mouth except a strange gurgle. Renjun pulls his hand away, and it is only then that Jeno notices the blood on it, his hands are covered in it, but he knows that Renjun is alright, has no injuries. So whose blood is it? Where did it come from? His senses return to him in that moment, sounds come crashing over him, he feels Renjun’s hands on him, can hear him crying, and then there’s nothing but pain. It lances up his side, white-hot and searing that it blinds him so hard and fast that his arms give out underneath him. Renjun is calling out his name now, crying it, not calling it, and Jeno wants to tell him that it’s okay, that he’s okay, but his mouth doesn’t seem to be working. He tries to move his fingers so that he can at least reach Renjun, and something must work because the last thing he feels is a hand closing around his before darkness finally takes him and he realises, very belatedly, that the blood must have been his. 

━━━━━━

  
  


Jeno wakes up to the sound of beeping and the soft, mechanical hum of machines — machines that he is hooked up to. He frowns, as he tries to remember what he was doing before he passed out. The room is in almost complete darkness except for where some sunlight leaks through the very heavy duty blackout blinds that hang over the window. He’s in a hospital, that much he knows, and in what looks like a very expensive ward. His bed is the only one in here, and the room is furnished with lavish leather sofas and what looks like a very luxurious en-suite. It must have cost a fortune to put him in here. 

The sound of breathing to his left startles him and he turns to find Renjun with his head pillowed in his arms on Jeno’s bed, while the rest of him is seated in a small chair that he must have dragged to the bed. He realises that Renjun is still in his stage outfit and then suddenly everything comes flooding back to him, from the concert, to their fight just before the concert, to Jeno tackling Renjun to the ground. He looks down and finds his abdomen all bandaged up, pain shooting up his entire right side when he tried to move. Gingerly, he presses where he thinks the injury is and hisses when his suspicions are confirmed — definitely a kidney shot. He looks back at Renjun, so soft and beautiful despite the obvious stress lining his features even in sleep, and he can’t help the way his heart constricts. Carefully, Jeno reaches for him, carding his fingers through the soft silver locks. Renjun stirs and leans into the touch before he sits up with a gasp.

“Jeno?” He asks, eyes wide despite having just been asleep. 

“Hey,” Jeno answers with a smile and Renjun bursts into tears.

“You fucking idiot!” Renjun wails, swatting at Jeno’s arm. “I thought you were dead, Lee Jeno! I thought you’d gone and died on me. You kept checking if I was okay, you didn’t even realise you were bleeding! And there was so much blood, Jeno. There was so much blood.” Renjun trails off with a sniff and Jeno can’t help but chuckle, wincing when it pulls at his wound.

He reaches out and cups Renjun’s cheeks, thumbs moving to brush away the tears. “Hey, it’s okay, Renjun. I’m okay. I’m not dead. I’m still here.” The words, an echo of another time and another situation makes them both smile. Renjun sighs, placing a hand over Jeno’s as his eyes flutter shut and he leans into Jeno’s touch. They remain silent, Jeno occasionally brushing Renjun’s cheek with his thumb until Renjun decides to speak again. 

“You know, when you were unconscious, all I could think of was our fight, that those words could have been the last words I would ever say to you.” Renjun opens his eyes slowly, and Jeno can see the weariness in them. “I don’t think I’ve ever regretted something so much in my life.”

“What would you have said then?” Jeno asks in a moment of bravery he will later blame on the drugs because, looking at Renjun now, and remembering everything that happened before, he’s no longer sure he wants to know the answer. 

Renjun smiles at him then, leaning forward to brush the hair out of his eyes, fingers trailing gently down the side of his face. “I would have said I was sorry.” Jeno freezes, his eyes searching Renjun’s before he looks away and continues. “Sorry for everything that happened that night, for making you worry, for hurting you. I would have told you that nothing happened that night, that he hasn’t been anything more than a friend to me for a long time, that I cared about these things too, that I cared about you.” He pauses, his gaze returning to Jeno. “Last night, when we fought, I asked you why do you care? I- I want to ask you that again.”

Jeno looks at Renjun and sees the determination in his gaze, fire burning in his eyes despite his nervousness, and realises that this is the Renjun that stole his heart. The young man he met in that recording studio, who was every bit as fiery then as he is now, that same man who had yelled at him and then made breakfast for him, who had stood on stage after being attacked for the sake of his fans.

“Why do I care?” Jeno reaches out for Renjun again, who moves closer to give him easier access. Jeno takes the opportunity to touch like a man starved, brushing his fingers through Renjun’s hair, tracing the lines of his face with an almost reverent gentleness. Renjun sighs into the touch and Jeno smiles. “I care because you hold my heart in your hands, but I’m afraid that you don’t know it yet.”

Renjun’s eyes widen as he stares at Jeno. “I- What?”

Jeno chuckles as he tugs Renjun closer until they’re so close he can feel Renjun’s breath on his face. “I like you, Huang Renjun. You don’t have to say anything but I’m hoping that, maybe, you like me too.”

Renjun looks at him in disbelief for a second. “You idiot,” he breathes before leaning forward to press his forehead against Jeno’s. “Of course, I like you too.”

Jeno’s heart stutters and the machine picks it up, making Renjun laugh and, God, Jeno could listen to him laugh all day. “Can I kiss you now?” Renjun asks as he smiles at him.

“Yeah.” And then Renjun’s lips are on his, softly at first, tentative almost, then Jeno kisses him back and all thoughts of being gentle are thrown on the window. Jeno nips at his bottom lip and Renjun opens up for him with an almost-whimper that shoots straight to Jeno’s gut. Renjun tastes like honey, and a bit like the peppermint of the cheap toothpaste he must have used before he’d fallen asleep, and Jeno thinks he might already be drunk on it. God knows he already wants more. Hands snake around Jeno’s neck and into his hair as Renjun pulls himself closer to Jeno. But when Jeno tries to do the same, pain shoots up his side and he hisses, causing Renjun to pull back. 

“I’m sorry,” Renjun says pulling away from Jeno even more. “I’m sorry, I got too carried away.”

Jeno shakes his head with a laugh, despite the pain. “ _We_ got carried away. It’s not your fault.” He pulls Renjun back to him, not liking the distance now that they can be closer, and presses another kiss to Renjun’s lips. That leads to a more languid round of kissing, neither of them as heated this time until Jeno finally pulls away.

He sighs, contented. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Renjun’s eyes are challenging as they meet his and Jeno falls just a little bit more. 

“Maybe because I was under the impression that you were in love with someone else,” Jeno shoots back at him and Renjun rolls his eyes fondly.

“Will you let me explain properly now?”

Jeno looks at him for a moment before looking down at his bed, and then back at him. “Only if you join me on here.”

“What?” Renjun looks at him incredulously. “I’m not joining you on your hospital bed.”

“Renjun…” he whines putting his best kicked puppy face on as he pats the space beside him and, of course, it works. 

“Fine,” Renjun says as he climbs carefully onto the bed beside Jeno, careful to not jostle him too much. Once he’s settled comfortably against Jeno’s side, his hand linked with Jeno’s over his waist he asks again. “Happy?”

“Very,” Jeno nods, humming his agreement, his fingers tapping a gentle rhythm against the back of Renjun’s hand in contentment. “Go ahead, explain yourself, Huang Renjun.”

Renjun tuts but Jeno can just make out the way his lips are curved upwards. “For the record,” he begins. “I was never in love with Junhui, or… Not in the way that I thought I was at least.” He stops to look up at Jeno who just presses his lips against Renjun’s forehead and nods for him to continue. “He was the one who helped me realise it actually.”

Jeno makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat and Renjun looks at him. “How so?” 

“Well, you know we played the part of lovers in our drama, and our chemistry really was undeniable. Things progressed naturally after that, or naturally for him at least. He really did love me, I think, but I think I was just so caught up in the emotions from the drama, I had confused mutual attraction for love.” Renjun sighs, lips curling into a wry smile and Jeno reaches out to brush his hand against Renjun’s cheek. “He figured it out before I did, obviously, which is why he broke up with me. I, on the other hand, didn’t understand.

“I dealt with it really unhealthily, kept asking to see him, kept hooking up with him. I kept hurting him, really. That night, in Beijing, we finally talked it all out and I realised that he was right. So we ended things, properly this time.”

“But you were always so sad, after that night.” Jeno frowns, remembering how quiet Renjun had been then.

“Loss always hurts, Jeno. Even if I didn’t love him, he was still someone important to me.” Renjun’s smile is tinged with sadness and Jeno’s heart aches for him. 

“Are you still sad now?” Jeno asks, tentative, fingers playing with the hem of Renjun’s shirt absently.

“A bit,” Renjun admits, and Jeno’s heart sinks a little. “But that doesn’t make what I feel for you any less real.”

Jeno turns to him, more than a bit afraid as he searches Renjun’s eyes for any untruths. “And what do you feel for me?”

“A lot of things, Lee Jeno. You make me feel a lot of things.” Renjun’s smile is shy as he tears his gaze away from Jeno, the tips of his ears crimson. “I think you’re driving me a little bit crazy.”

It is Jeno’s turn to blush, and he feels the heat spread from his cheeks up to his ears, and his heart is probably going at a hundred miles a minute, but he refuses to back down, he can’t. Not when Renjun’s words have him on a high he can’t even begin to describe — he drives Renjun crazy? The thought is absolutely dizzying, makes him gravitate towards Renjun, leaning in just a little bit closer. “Oh?” He asks, kind of breathless but he figures Renjun will always take his breath away. “Care to elaborate?”

Renjun’s breath hitches, just a little, and the colour in his cheeks deepens. “No.” 

Jeno barely has time to think about how much he likes when Renjun is the one who is breathless before Renjun’s lips are on his, and his mind blissfully blanks out. The kiss is electrifying, even more charged than their first one, and Jeno has to suppress a shudder when Renjun twists so that he’s almost on top of Jeno. He wraps his arms around Renjun to pull him closer, ignoring the pain that rips through him at the effort. Renjun’s hands are in his hair and he parts his lips to give him access, moaning slightly when Renjun tugs on his lower lip. God, Renjun is so intoxicating, Jeno feels like _he_ is the one going crazy, especially when Renjun licks into him just right and it goes right through his entire body. 

Jeno’s hands are just starting to find their way under Renjun’s shirt when an obnoxiously loud cough sounds from the doorway. Renjun and Jeno jerk apart and Jeno angles his head around Renjun to find a very unamused Jaemin standing in the doorway, arms crossed as he leans casually against the doorframe. 

“While I’m happy about this development in your relationship,” Jaemin begins, pushing off the doorframe and striding towards them. “Please remember that you are in a _hospital_ , and that you have more than ten stitches in your back.” He shoots Jeno a pointed look. “I’m not going to stitch you back up if they burst, Jen.”

Jeno’s cheeks burn as he glares at Jaemin. “Thanks, Jaemin. I wasn’t aware I had a hole in my own back.”

Jaemin snorts and his expression shifts into something softer as he nears the bed, Renjun slowly slipping back into his original position at Jeno’s side. “How are you feeling? And _don’t_ give me any of that snark, I know you were in pain just now.”

Renjun freezes, looking at Jeno as if for confirmation, but Jeno shakes his head although that does little to appease either of them. “Okay fine, it hurt a little.” Jaemin and Renjun both sigh exasperatedly, completely in sync, before freeze, staring at each other for all of two seconds before they break out into laughter. “This is just great,” Jeno grumbles. “Now, the two of you are going to gang up against me, I just know it.” 

Jaemin goes “yup” at the same time that Renjun says “of course” and Jeno groans knowing that he is completely done for. Jaemin laughs as he brings a hand up to card gently through Jeno’s hair, and Jeno hums, the feel of Jaemin’s fingers lulling him into a more relaxed state. 

“Where are the rest?” Jeno asks, already half-asleep, and then his eyes shoot open and he looks at Jaemin, who freezes. “Did we catch him?”

Jaemin looks at Renjun, who has been watching their interaction with mild interest. “I see Renjun has told you everything _except_ what actually happened.”

Renjun baulks before flushing lightly. “You would too,” he snaps back at Jaemin who laughs before returning his attention to Jeno.

“Yeah, we caught him, managed to tackle him when the crowd dispersed. Everyone else is resting. Mark was the one who actually jumped him so he took a pretty big hit but he’s with Donghyuck now. I sent the kids back when the sun started rising, told them to come back after they got some sleep.” Jaemin pauses, frowning as he looks at Jeno. “It was a glass blade, Jeno. How did you even see it?”

“I don’t know,” Jeno admits. “I barely remember anything to be honest. I didn’t even feel the hit.”

Jaemin smiles knowingly because he understands what it’s like to go under, to let instincts take over and come out the other side barely aware of who you’d been. “Well, you saved Renjun _and_ you’re okay. That’s what matters. Although,” he pauses, eyes narrowing at Jeno. “I remember telling you _not_ to do anything stupid.”

Jeno scoffs. “You would have done the same thing if you were me.”

“Fine, alright,” Jaemin huffs. “Maybe, I would have, but I still get to be mad. What if I’d lost you?” Jeno looks up at him and sees the truth in his eyes, the fear hidden underneath a layer of cockiness and humour. 

“You wouldn’t have,” Jeno reassures him, smiling as he reaches up to link their fingers. 

“I better not have,” Jaemin grumbles and Jeno chuckles, wincing a little at the pain it causes. 

Jaemin straightens himself up. “Alright, I’ll leave you two alone now. Remember, no fucking until the stitches are out, and you, Lee Jeno, still owe me the best holiday of my life.” He pauses, looks over at Renjun who is flushing a bright pink. “I guess you can bring Renjun along too.” He directs a wink at Jeno — who groans — presses kisses into both Jeno and Renjun’s foreheads, and then he‘s out the door in typical Jaemin fashion.

Renjun is still staring wide-eyed at Jaemin’s retreating figure as he brings a hand to the spot on his forehead that Jaemin had kissed. He looks back at Jeno with the same expression and it is so adorable that Jeno really tries to bite back the laugh that starts to bubble inside him. “Did he just-?” Renjun trails off and Jeno can no longer hold it in. 

Laughter tumbles out of him, along with a sharp, searing pain, which he tries his best to ignore. “Yeah, he did,” Jeno says, smiling as he presses a kiss over the same spot. “Welcome to the family, I guess.

\--- FIN ---

**Author's Note:**

> If you have made it to the end... THANK YOU SO MUCH READING!! I know this fic was a Big Boy™ so thank you so much for getting all the way here.
> 
>  **A Few Notes**  
>  #1 - Yes, markhyuck are a thing. No, they are not tagged because I wanted it to be a surprise so I hope you enjoyed that little tidbit.  
> #2 - Wen Junhui is not a bad guy, I swear! I love him. 
> 
> Leave me your thoughts and questions in the comments! And, of course, kudos and comments keep me alive♡
> 
> Thank you once again for reading!
> 
> Find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/moonfleur_) or [curious cat](http://curiouscat.me/moonfleur_) ♥︎


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